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A School Building Program 
For Cities 

By N. L Engelhardt 



Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements 

for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the 

Faculty of Philosophy, Columbia University 



Published by 

Wtmiftxi College, Columbia 3&ttoer*itp 

New York City 

1918 



A School Building Program 
For Cities 



By N. L. Engelhardt > 



Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements 

for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the 

Faculty of Philosophy, Columbia University 



Published by 

^eacfjerg College, Columbia Hm'bersrttp 

New York City 

1918 



.,.• 



Copyright, 1018, by N. L. Engelhardt 






.'£■1 



UNIVERSITY PRINTING OFFICE 
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY' 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

/ "T~ V HE writer wishes to acknowledge here his indebtedness to the 
-*- individuals who have assisted in making possible the completion 
of this study. He wishes to acknowledge with especial gratitude his 
indebtedness to Dr. George D. Strayer, professor of educational 
administration in Teachers College. Dr. Strayer's advice, co- 
operation, and encouragement have been of incalculable value 
through every stage of the study. 

N. L. E. 



CONTENTS 
Introduction vii 

Part I. Studies in Population I 

1. The Measurement of Population. 

2. The Measurement of School Population. 

3. Geographical Distribution of Population. 

Part II. Studies Involving the School Plant 50 

Part III. Financing a Building Program 89 

1 . The Ability to Pay for the Necessary Additions to a 

School Building Plant. 

2. Payment for New School Buildings. 

Conclusions 125 

Bibliography 129 



INTRODUCTION 

That the city planning movement in this country is of compara- 
tive recency may be judged from the available literature on this 
subject. Of six hundred titles relating to city planning and allied 
subjects appearing in a list compiled in 1913 by the New York Public 
Library, the large majority were first issued within the present 
century. Of these six hundred titles, none concerns itself com- 
pletely or in large part with the problems connected with the out- 
lining of school building programs. 

A broader concept of what a city should be has gradually been 
dawning on the American people. A city is now conceived as a 
corporation working for the common good in a businesslike way. 
This implies adapting for city development the methods employed 
by the successful commercial and industrial corporations of the 
country. Part of the program followed by such organizations has 
been the study of the future needs of the people they expect to 
serve, as well as an attempt to discover the increase in growth of 
population in the communities in which they are doing business. 
The business corporation serving a widely scattered public which 
does not build in terms of the future development of the territory 
which it serves soon fails to make adequate dividend returns to its 
stockholders. 

The development of the school systems of the majority of Ameri- 
can cities has suffered much from a lack of continuity in plan or 
program. Only recently has the practice been pursued of placing 
the control and responsibility of management of school systems in 
the hands of professionally trained executives. Where the responsi- 
bility for the progress of school systems or the building of a school 
plant has been vested in lay boards of education, whose interest in 
educational matters has been secondary and temporary, one may not 
expect to find school plants which are wisely planned, adequately 
housed, and economically maintained. The pernicious policy of 
appointing superintendents of schools for a term of one year or two 
years that still prevails in many cities destroys all possibility of a 
consecutive building program. Such a program involves the 



viii A School Building Program for Cities 

adoption of standards, absolute and comparative measurement, 
and the recognition of future as well as present needs. Complete 
analyses of school plants in various cities have demonstrated the 
universal need for periodic inventories or surveys. 

A part of the findings reported in this work is the result of the 
writer's personal participation in six extensive school building sur- 
veys. The communities surveyed varied from the small New York 
suburban community of Great Neck, Long Island, to St. Paul, 
a city of 250,000 people. Omaha, Neb., Paterson, N. J., Framing- 
ham, Mass., and Pelham, N. Y., were also included in the list. 
These surveys have been drawn upon for much of the illustrative 
material. 

The development of a school building program involves three 
distinct problems in measurement : First, the measurement of popu- 
lation, second, the measurement of the school plant, and third, the 
measurement of the ability of a community to pay for needed exten- 
sions to its school plant. 

Under the Measurement of Population have been treated such 
essentials as the growth in American cities, the relationship between 
adult and school population, the methods of measuring population 
growth, and some of the methods that may be employed in measur- 
ing school population. With the latter is coupled the consideration 
of elements essential in the locating of school buildings. 

Under the Measurement of the School Plant some of the possi- 
bilities of measurement of a school plant with and without the aid 
of a building score card are presented. 

Part III has been devoted to the measurement of the ability 
of a community to pay for school plant extensions. Financial tabu- 
lations have been provided which will assist a superintendent of 
schools in his presentation of arguments for additional school 
funds. Discussions on types of bond issues, the prevailing rates 
of interest on school bonds, and the present indebtedness of com- 
munities incurred in the extension of school plants, are also em- 
bodied in this section. 

Throughout this study it has been the aim of the writer to sug- 
gest and perfect ways and means of measurement which may be 
utilized by superintendents of school systems in the development 
of their school building programs. For the elevation of the pro- 
fession of school superintendent much in the way of standardization 



Introduction ix 

and scientific procedure remains to be done. Past failures in 
accepting standards and adopting businesslike methods have 
proven disastrous financially as well as educationally. With con- 
stantly mounting costs in school maintenance, as well as in school 
building construction, the need for economy in planning and for 
systematic rather than haphazard development of a school building 
program is for the first time becoming apparent to many local edu- 
cational authorities. If this study assists in the solution of impor- 
tant problems connected with this development, the aims of the 
writer will have been achieved. 



PARTI 
STUDIES IN POPULATION 

I. THE MEASUREMENT OF POPULATION 

The need for school building programs becomes evident only 
as cities grow. That growth is not identical in all cities, nor develop- 
ing at any uniform rate, is quite certain. That growth in individual 
cities and sections of cities can be predicted with the assurance of 
a reasonable degree of reliability has been proved by the success 
achieved by many of our public service corporations. It has been 
apparent to the writer that all too frequently cities have been 
saddled with school plants expensive in their maintenance and 
even in original construction because of the lack of any population 
prognosis in the development of the plant. It is quite evident that 
a similar omission on the part of large private corporations might 
result in financial disaster. 

A close study of the growth of American cities brings to light 
three distinct types which may be classified as follows : First, those 
that are static or retrogressive as to their growth; second, those 
that are exceptionally rapid in growth and have not as yet settled 
down to what might be termed a normal pace; third, those whose 
growth has a fair degree of regularity and may hence be classified 
as normal. 

Inspection of Table I will show only eight cities of the 1 890-1 900 
decade and only three cities of the 1900-1910 decade falling into 
the first group. Cities of this type may have passed through an 
unnatural boom period. Others may have depended for their 
growth upon a supposedly unlimited supply of natural resources 
which has suddenly become exhausted. In some instances, a promis- 
ing industrial development has collapsed because of the lack of 
market, while in other cases remoteness from the more recently 
developed highways of travel has prevented either a mercantile 
or an industrial growth. 

In the second group may be classed those cities in which predic- 
tions concerning growth have been surpassed. It may be also 



2 A School Building Program for Cities 

evident in the cases of such cities that no reliable predictions for 
future development can be made. Cities which have been develop- 
ing normally may receive an unexpected impetus and thus be 
thrown into this group. That relatively few cities have in the past 
two decades had great variations in their rate of growth may be 
seen from Table II. Cities which may be used as illustrations of 
extraordinary growth are Birmingham, Ala., Los Angeles, Cal., 
Flint, Mich., and Seattle, Wash., with percentages of increase of 
245 per cent, 212 per cent, 194 per cent, and 194 per cent respec- 
tively. In such cases as these extraordinary measures must be 
taken to provide sufficient civic and educational advantages. 

In the third category may be classed those cities in which a rea- 
sonably regular and clearly explicable growth has been made over 

TABLE I 

Growth of Population in American Cities over Three Decades 
Grouped According to Percentages 



Based upon the United States Census Figures of 1880, 1890, 1900, 1910 



Percentages of 


Number of cities which have grown according to percentages 


growth during 


indicated from 


the decade 


1880-1890 


1800-IQOO 


IQOO-IQIO 


and below 




8 


3 


to 20 


15 


54 


59 


21 to 40 


50 


93 


80 


41 to 60 


24 


33 


38 


61 to 80 


25 


13 


19 


81 to IOO 


10 


9 


8 


101 to 120 


6 


5 


4 


121 to 140 


6 




6 


141 to 160 


2 


4 


I 


161 to 180 


I 


1 


2 


181 to 200 


I 


2 


2 


Over 200 


17 


2 


6 


Total 


157 


224 


229 


Median (on finer 








distribution) 


50.5 


32.5 


32.0 


Range of middle 50 








per cent 


30.05-92.12 


21 .50-49.00 


19 . 62-56 . 17 



Studies in Population 3 

a period of years. The large majority of cities will fall into this 
class. 

In Table I are distributed the cities of the United States accord- 
ing to their percentages of growth during the three decades from 
1880-1910. 

It will be seen that the median growth for cities during the 
decades 1890-1900 and 1900-1910 has been approximately the 
same, or 32.5 per cent and 32 per cent respectively. During the 
decade 1 880-1 890 the median growth was somewhat larger, namely, 
50.5 per cent. During the decade 1900^-1910, the middle 50 per 
cent of the 229 cities included in the study ranged in growth from 
19.62 per cent to 56.17 per cent. Only 21 cities, or 9 per cent of the 
total number of cities involved, had a growth of more than 100 per 
cent in 1910 over the census figures of 1900. Evidently growth in 
the majority of American cities is taking place at no phenomenal 
rate. The forces instrumental in producing such growth, since 

TABLE II 



Variation in the Percentage of Growth in the 226 Largest Cities 
in the United States. Percentages of Growth, 1 890-1 900 
and 1900-1910 Compared 



Differences in the percentages 

in growth of 1890-1900 

and, 1900-1910 


Number of cities 
having such differences 


Percentage of cities 
having such differences 


0-10 


90 


39 


11-20 


40 


18 


21-30 


30 


13 


31-40 


16 


8 


41-50 


15 


7 


51-60 


6 


3 


61-70 


5 


2 


71-80 


1 


1 


81-90 


2 


1 


91-100 


2 


1 


Over 100 


19 


7 


Total 


226 




Median 


I5H% 




75 percentile 


37% 





4 



A School Building Program for Cities 



they act over long periods, may be studied and the developing 
needs anticipated and provided for. 

That there is uniformity in the development of communities 
after they have passed through what might be termed their period 
of initial boom, may be seen from Table II. School authorities will 
have little difficulty in adjusting their building programs where 

TABLE III 

Population Growth of the City of Rochester, N. Y. on 

Various Census Bases 

i 830-1 91 7 



Year 


United States 


Federal 


City 


Slate 


census 


estimates 


directory 


census 


1830 


9,207 








1840 


20,191 








1850 


36,403 








i860 


48,204 








1870 


62,386 




24,644 


62,424 


1875 








81,673 


1880 


89,366 




34,355 




1890 


133,896 




57,046 


144,834 


1900 


162,608 




74,262 




1905 








181,666 


1910 


218,149 




106,121 




1911 




225,577 


110,038 




1912 




230,967 


112,667 




1913 




235,000 






1914 




241,000 






1915 




249,067 




248,465 


1916 




258,000 






1917 




260,000 







differences of less than 25 per cent appear in the course of a decade. 
Table II gives the variations in the percentages of growth between 
the two decades 1890-1900 and 1900-1910 for 226 cities. The 
median city of the group had a difference of percentages for the two 
periods of 15^ per cent. Of the 226 cities, 39 per cent had a change 
in percentage of growth in 1900-1910 of 10 per cent, or less, over the 
percentage indicated for the previous decade. Seventy-five per 
cent of the cities had a change of percentage of 37 per cent, or less, 



Studies in Population 5 

for the same two decades. It appears from these tables that in- 
crease of population in the majority of American cities permits of 
forecast with a fair degree of reliability. 

In measuring the increase of population in any one city, a dis- 
tribution of the figures for total population over a reasonably long 
period of years, as shown in Table III, may be considered the first 
essential. This table gives figures for the past eighty-seven years 
for the city of Rochester, N. Y. It includes the figures obtained by 
each decennial census during these eighty-seven years, the figures 
reported at certain five-year periods by the official state census, 
as well as figures reported in the official city directory. It may be 

TABLE IV 
Growth of Population of the Town of Framingham, Mass. 







Increase 


Percentage of growth 
over preceding date 


1895 


9,512 






1900 


11,302 


1,790 


19 


1905 


11,549 


247 


II 


1910 


12,984 


i,435 


9 


1915 


15,860 


2,876 


22 



possible in some instances to secure census figures from other 
sources which will also provide a check on accuracy. The post- 
office authorities, as well as private agencies such as telephone com- 
panies, street-car companies, and others, are concerned with mat- 
ters of census, and frequently compile their own statistics. That 
different agencies are responsible for the compilations in Table III 
assures a check which would not exist if the data furnished by only 
one of the agencies were considered. All figures listed under Federal 
Estimates were obtained according to the methods employed by the 
census authorities. A tenth of the increase of the preceding decade, 
as recorded by the census, is the uniform estimate of increase for 
each year of a passing decade. 

The problem of measurement of population which school authori- 
ties are required to face may be expressed best in terms of increase 
in population as in Table IV, taken from the Framingham, Mass., 



6 A School Building Program for Cities 

survey of 191 7. 1 In such a table the middle column, giving increases 
in growth over each preceding period, becomes a significant measure 
of the need for school building extension. 

Growth in population may be shown by giving the increase over 
a decade in terms of the number of newcomers added per day, per 
week, or per month. This is done by Dr. Cubberley in the Salt 
Lake City survey of 1915, 2 where it is shown that the average 
increase over the entire ten years from 1900-1910 was equal to II .2 
persons per day. The rate toward the latter part of the decade, 
it is stated, must have been as high as 15 persons per day. 

In the survey of the community of Great Neck, 3 a suburb of New 
York City, it was considered advisable to use as evidence of regu- 
lar increases in population the percentage of increase in the number 
of commuters passing to and from Great Neck to New York City. 
The facts for the two years 191 1 and 1916, distributed by months, as 
given in Table V are indeed significant. 

TABLE V 



Increase in the Number of Commuters from Great Neck Station 
to New York City, 1911-1916 





1911 


iqi6 


Increase 


Per cent 
increase 


January 


126 


269 


H3 


113 


February 


132 


263 


131 


99 


March 


127 


263 


136 


108 


April 


138 


261 


123 


90 


May 


151 


296 


145 


91 


June 


146 


305 


159 


109 


July 


139 


297 


158 


114 


August 


140 


292 


152 


109 


September 


140 


281 


141 


IOI 


October 


152 


312 


160 


105 


November 


140 


286 


146 


104 


December 


140 


299 


159 


114 


Totals 


1,671 


3,424 


i,753 


105 



1 Strayer, et al., Framingham, Mass., Survey, 1917. 

2 Cubberley, School Organization and Administration, World Book Company, 
Yonkers, N. Y. 

3 Strayer and Neale, Great Neck Survey, Great Neck Association, Great Neck, L. I. 



Studies in Population 7 

The increase or falling off in the number of dwelling building 
perrnits issued over a period of years may be considered another 
good index of tendencies in growth of a city. In Table VI will 
be found the distribution of dwelling building permits issued in the 
city of St. Paul for the period 1910-1916. 

In Volume 1 4 of the 1910 United States Census the number of 
persons per dwelling in St. Paul is given as 6.3 in 1890, 6.6 in 1900, 
and 6.6 in 19 10. Since no difference appears in the numbers as 
given for 1900 and 1910, it may be considered reasonable to assume 

TABLE VI 

Distribution of Dwelling Building Permits Issued in the City 
of St. Paul, 1910-1916 





IQIO 


IQII 


1Q12 


1913 


1914 


1915 


1916 


Dwelling building permits 
















issued 


1,416 


1,265 


i,237 


1,308 


1,306 


1,379 


1,275 


Estimated number of persons 
















provided for in such new 
















dwellings 


9,345 


8,349 


8,164 


8,633 


8,620 


9,101 


8,415 



that the average number for the years 1911-1916 does not vary 
greatly from the 6.6 of the previous decade. Using this as the con- 
stant multiplier for the first line of Table VI, the number of per- 
sons for whom these dwellings would be provided would be approxi- 
mately as shown in the table. In any use made of this table, other 
facts affecting the validity of these data as a measure of growth, 
such as the number of dwellings destroyed or removed, must be 
given due consideration. 

Table VII brings in the element of the land additions that have 
been made to the territory which a city covers. The unit used in 
this table, the population density per square mile, becomes an 
especially desirable measure where no changes have been made in 
a city's territory over a period of years. The composition of popu- 
lation, changes in composition over an extended period, changes in 
the number of persons per family and in the number of persons per 
dwelling, are further elements which may throw light on population 
tendencies. 

4 p. 1,289. 



8 



A School Building Program for Cities 



Table VIII shows the situation in the United States as regards 
the distribution of native whites, foreign born whites, and negroes 
in all cities over 25,000, census of 1910. 5 The large percentage of 
foreign born whites, which no doubt will be augmented considerably 
after the World War, has a direct bearing upon a building program. 
It emphasizes the need for buildings which are not only properly 
equipped for academic work for the child and for social and recre- 

TABLE VII 
Population Density Per Square Mile, St. Paul, Minn., 1850-1916 



Year 


Square 
■miles 


Year 


Popula- 
tion 


Year 


Density 

per square 

mile 


1847 Town site laid out 


.14 










1849 


•35 


1850 


1,112 


1850 


3,177 


1854 


3-75 


i860 


10,401 


i860 


2,773 


1868 


545 


1870 


20,030 


1870 


2,005 


1873 


I5-56 


1880 


41473 


1885 


2,028 


1885 


35-34 


1890 


113. 156 






1887 


5544 


1900 


163,065 


1900 


2,941 






1910 


214,744 


1910 


3,873 


1916 Present area 


5544 


1916 6 


250,000 


1916 6 


4,509 



ational opportunities for both child and adult, but also for the 
academic development of the adult. 

A detailed study of composition of population in any one city 
should involve a percentile distribution of the various elements of 
population showing changes for three or four decades and compari- 
son for those same periods with tendencies in all other cities of the 
same class group. In this way it may be ascertained whether the 
individual situation differs from that of the nation or of the specially 
selected group with which comparisons seemed advisable. 

In measuring population with the use of the number of persons 
per family or per dwelling as a unit, the change that has taken place 
in this unit over the period involved must be borne in mind. Table 

6 Distribution made from Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910, Vol. I. 
6 Estimated. 



Studies in Population 9 

IX shows what this change has been for the United States as a 
whole during the period 1890-19 10. The median cities of the 
'100,000 and over' and of the 25,000-100,000 classes in respect to 
size of families were in 19 10 cities whose averages for family groups 
were 4.64 and 4.5 persons respectively. Table IX points out the 
gradual dropping of the median in cities of the United States for 
the past three decades on this item. 



TABLE VIII 
Number of Cities Having Various Percentages of Total Population 





Native White 


Foreign-born 
white 






Of native 


Of foreign or 


Negroes 


Per cent 


parentage 


mixed parentage 








Cities 

over 

100,000 


25,000- 
100,000 


Cities 

over 

100,000 


25,000- 
100,000 


Cities 

over 

100,000 


25,000- 
100,000 


Cities 

over 

100,000 


25,000- 
100,000 


0- 5 






I 


11 


5 


28 


37 


130 


6-10 






4 


18 


6 


23 


5 


11 


11-15 


I 


3 


1 


8 


2 


20 


1 




16-20 


3 


11 


3 


17 


7 


28 


2 




21-25 


6 


6 


6 


19 


7 


18 






26-30 


10 


14 


3 


27 


8 


23 


2 




31-35 


3 


23 


5 


32 


8 


19 


2 




36-40 


4 


14 


20 


29 


5 


11 


3 




41-45 


8 


18 


6 


13 


2 


7 






46-50 


6 


12 


I 


5 




1 






51-55 


4 


25 




1 




4 






56-60 


1 


14 














61-65 


4 


13 














66-70 




5 














71-75 




12 














76-80 




4 














81-85 




1 














86-90 




3 














Total 


50 


178 


50 


180 


So 


182 


52 


141 


Median 


















percentage 


37-5 


45-5 


36.5 


29.8 


25-5 


19 -3 


2-7 


0-7 



Census, igio 



10 



A School Building Program for Cities 



Comparative Statistics 

With the determination of the tendencies in growth over certain 
periods in a city is closely connected the question of whether the 
rate of growth has any relationship to the rate shown to exist in 
other cities which are struggling with similar problems, whether of 
a geographical, social, economic, or industrial nature. In many of 
the school surveys which have come from the press during recent 
years, a statistical comparison of the growth in population between 
the city under immediate consideration and a group of selected 
cities has been made. In the survey of Salt Lake City made in 1916, 

TABLE IX 

Number of Persons to a Family and to a Dwelling, Cities of 
25,000 and Over, 1890-1910 7 





Cities 


100,000 and over 


Citie*. 


25,000-100,000 


Number of persons 














to a family 


i8qo 


IQOO 


IQIO 


i8qo 


IQOO 


IQIO 


Median city 


4-97 


4.69 


4.64 


485 


4.6O 


4-50 


Number of persons 














to a dwelling 


18 go 


IQOO 


IQIO 


1 8 go 


IQOO 


IQIO 


Median city 


6.29 


6.O5 


4.89 


5-23 


5-29 


5.22 



Dr. Cubberley selected for purposes of comparison "every northern 
and western city which in 1910 had between 75,000 and 125,000 
inhabitants, and which had increased in population during the 
previous decade." Salt Lake City was thus shown by this table 
to have exceeded in rate of growth twenty-two of the twenty-five 
other cities of the tabulation. Strayer and Engelhardt in the St. 
Paul survey of 1917 selected as the group which would afford the 
basis for comparative study "the twelve northern and western cities 
that were just greater than St. Paul in population and the twelve 
northern and western cities that were just below St. Paul in popu- 
lation." Dr. Van Sickle in the Brookline, Mass., survey made in 
1 91 7 selected two different groups of cities for purposes of compari- 
son. The first group was "composed of all the fifty-one cities in the 
United States, including Brookline, which had a population in 1910 

7 Calculations made from data on pp. 1,287 ff-> Thirteenth Census of the United 
States, Vol. I. 



Studies in Population 



ii 



of 25,000 or over, and less than 31,000, Brookline being the twenty- 
fifth city in point of size in the list. This first group was to furnish 
a general measure, nation wide, with which Brookline is most 
closely comparable. . . The second group was composed of 
the cities most like Brookline as regards wealth, intelligence, proxim- 
ity to urban centers, number of commercial and industrial estab- 

TABLE X 

Population of Certain Cities Used for Comparison in the 
Broorxine Survey, 1850-1910 





1850 


i860 


1870 


1880 


i8qo 


igoo 


IQIO 


Springfield, Mass. 


11,766 


15.199 


26,703 


33,340 


44,179 


62,059 


88,926 


Yonkers, N. Y. 








18,892 


32,033 


47,931 


79,803 


Berkeley, Cal. 










5,ioi 


13,214 


40,434 


Newton, Mass. 


5.258 


8,382 


12,825 


16,995 


24,379 


33,587 


39,806 


San Diego, Cal. 




73i 


2,300 


2,637 


16,159 


17,700 


39,578 


East Orange, N. J. 












21,506 


34,371 


Pasadena, Cal. 










4,882 


9,117 


30,291 


Colorado Springs 








4,226 


11,140 


21,085 


29,078 


New Rochelle, N. Y. 


2,458 


3,519 


3,915 


5,276 


9,057 


14,720 


28,867 


Brookline, Mass. 


2,516 


5,164 


6,650 


8,057 


12,103 


19,935 


27,792 


Madison, Wis. 


1,525 


6,611 


9,176 


10,324 


13,426 


19,164 


25,531 


Evanston, 111. 












19,259 


24,978 


Montclair, N. J. 












13,962 


21,550 


Oak Park, 111. 














19,444 


White Plains, N. Y. 










4,042 


7,899 


15,949 


Milton, Mass. 










4,278 


6,578 


7,924 


Wellesley, Mass. 










3,600 


5,072 


5,413 



lishments, and the reputation of its schools. This group provides 
a comparative measure for Brookline which is superior to the 
former group in that cities contained in it are of more nearly identi- 
cal condition." 

Table X shows the population figures for the second group of 
cities used in the Brookline comparisons. Fig. 1 represents this 
table graphically. 

An inspection of Fig. 1 will show that although the cities selected 
may resemble Brookline in the particulars above named, the prob- 
lems connected with increases in population, and hence with the 
school building program, have during the past sixty years been 



12 



A School Building Program for Cities 



very unlike those of Brookline in many cases. For instance, the 
problems found to exist in Milton, Wellesley, Evanston, and Madi- 
son would not be the problems of the cities of Springfield and Yon- 
kers, which have grown with great rapidity. 

Table XI and Fig. 2 represent a similar study for the cities uti- 
lized in developing the building survey of St. Paul in 191 7. From 




/8$o /S60 *8yo >88o t8fo ffoo tf/o 

Fig. i 

the graph it is clear that a better selective process might be em- 
ployed where comparisons between cities are desired. 

Table XII indicates rather clearly that in the selection of cities 
from the '500,000 and above' group, the cities of Cleveland, Detroit, 
Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, and Newark form a more suitable com- 
bination than the entire ten cities included in Table XII. The 
average deviations obtained from a consideration of the first five 
cities mentioned are in every case less than the figures secured from 
a consideration of the ten cities. 



Studies in Population 



13 



Since the increments in population for these five cities also em- 
phasize the similarity existing between them, it appears that a 
maximum of fairness has been secured for the purpose of compari- 
son. No doubt only a slight effort would be necessary to secure on 

TABLE XI 
Population of Cities Used for Comparison in the St. Paul Survey, 191 7 



Years 


1850 


i860 


1870 


1880 


i8qo 


1900 


igio 


Cincinnati 


H5,435 


161,044 


216,239 


255,139 


296,908 


325,902 


363,591 


Newark 


38,894 


7i,94i 


105,059 


136,508 


181,830 


246,070 


347,469 


Washington 


40,001 


61,122 


109,199 


177,624 


230,392 


278,718 


331,069 


Minneapolis 




2,564 


13,066 


46,887 


164,738 


202,718 


301,408 


Seattle 






1,107 


3,533 


42,837 


80,671 


237,194 


Jersey City 


6,856 


29,226 


82,546 


120,722 


163,003 


206,433 


267,779 


Kansas City, Mo. 




4,4i8 


32,260 


55,785 


132,716 


163,752 


248,381 


Indianapolis 


8,091 


18,611 


48,244 


75,056 


105,436 


169,164 


233,650 


Portland, Ore. 




2,874 


8,293 


17,577 


46,385 


90,426 


207,214 


Denver 






4,759 


35,629 


106,713 


133,859 


213,381 


Rochester 


36,403 


48,204 


62,386 


89,366 


133,896 


162,608 


218,149 


St. Paul 


1,112 


10,401 


20,030 


41,473 


133,156 


163,065 


214,744 


Columbus 


17,882 


18,554 


3i,274 


51,647 


88,150 


125,560 


181,511 


Oakland 




i,543 


10,500 


34,555 


48,682 


66,960 


150,174 


Toledo 


3,829 


13,768 


31,584 


50,137 


81,434 


131,822 


168,497 


Worcester 


17,049 


24,960 


41,105 


58,291 


84,655 


118,421 


145,986 


Syracuse 


22,271 


28,119 


43,o5i 


5i,792 


88,143 


108,374 


137,249 


New Haven 


20,345 8 


39,267 s 


50,840 s 


62,882 s 


81,298 


108,027 


133,605 


Scranton 




9,233 


35,092 


45,85o 


75,215 


102,026 


129,867 


Spokane 










19,922 


36,848 


104,402 


Paterson 




19,586 


33,579 


51,031 


78,347 


105,171 


125,600 


Omaha 




1,883 


16,083 


30,518 


140,452 


102,555 


124,096 


Fall River 


11,524 


14,026 


26,766 


48,961 


74,398 


104,863 


H9,295 


Grand Rapids 


2,686 


8,085 


16,507 


32,016 


60,278 


87,565 


H2,57l 



these bases the companion cities for any city that was being sub- 
jected to a critical study. 

Cities selected on the basis of geographical location or of approxi- 
mately equal size at a stated interval will , it is apparent, not furnish 
the best comparisons when considerations involve a school building 
program. Such cities, it may be pointed out, have many points 
of similarity in common, and furnish a larger group than would be 
available under a greater refinement of selection. It would seem 

8 Population of town; town and city not returned separately. 



3fr 



A School Building Program for Cities 



3oo 




Fig. 2 

Showing the growth in population of the cities 
listed in Table XI 



Studies in Population 



15 



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1 6 A School Building Program for Cities 

wise, however, to make a second comparison when the problems of 
a school building program were being brought to light, on the basis 
of approximate equality of numbers of persons added to the popu- 
lation from decade to decade. 

Figs. 3 and 4 show groups of cities selected on the basis of this 
approximate equality in growth over extended periods. The build- 
ing programs of each of the groups as they have segregated them- 
selves in the figures may have problems which will have many 
points in common. There is no doubt that the building problems 
of the one group of each of these figures are not identical with those 
of the other group, which has not been progressing in population at 
the same rate. 

It may be necessary for purposes of comparison to choose cities 
which have similar problems as evidenced by the proportion of 
inhabitants of native origin, of mixed origin, and of foreign origin. 
The tendency in city surveys has been merely to point out the 
relationship existing in composition of population in cities selected 
on other bases, but not to use the likenesses in composition as the 
basis for selection. It is conceivable that the group suggested in 
Table XII, on the basis of composition of population, might furnish 
the most significant comparative data. Similar composition may 
signify similar needs in equipment as well as similar ability to pay. 

Three other measures of population which at times may be of 
extreme importance in a campaign for developing a school building 
program have received very little recognition in the available 
literature on this subject. These measures are: 

1. The percentage of males. 

2. The percentage of married males. 

3. The percentage of homes owned as contrasted with the percentage 
rented. 

Dr. Cubberley points out in the Portland survey the preponder- 
ance of males and unmarried people as compared with the thirty- 
seven other cities which he used in his comparisons. With the 
number of elementary school children forming a low percentage, 
of the total population it was pointed out that Portland was in a 
position to provide any reasonable equipment for its schools. 

The earning capacity of the male in the United States is on the 
average higher than that of the female. It will be admitted, there- 



Studies in Population 



17 




S/"-"igf-<aJcl,A 



/fJo /f£6 'S70 /SPo *8?0 syoo /?, 

Fig. 3 



Two groups of cities in each of which the school building programs 

of a period of years have required consideration involving 

approximately equal additions to population 



i8 



A School Building Program for Cities 



6* 



da 

1 
I 

<i 

K 

fi. Out, 




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'fill /S6o /870 fSgfi /fpt "feo /&/o 

Fig. 4 



Showing two groups of cities selected for comparison on the basis of approximate 
equality in growth over a period of years 



Studies in Population 19 

fore, that in cities which have a great preponderance of males the 
problems of financing public enterprises are considerably lessened. 
Cities which have ratios of 130 to 138 males to 100 females have, 
no doubt, other things being equal, relatively simpler problems of 
financing than those cities which show ratios of 80 to 90 males for 
each 100 females. 

Two measures closely related to percentage of males are the 
percentage of married males and the percentage of homes owned 
as opposed to those rented by their tenants. Communities with 
large percentages of encumbered homes have, it is to be expected, 
relatively greater difficulties in increasing the city tax burdens than 
more fortunate communities. Cities with large percentages of 
rented homes may also be conceived as having developed to a very 
slight degree the spirit of financial sacrifice for the common good. 
The inference may also be made that lower social groups, and hence 
those groups least awakened to educational needs, made up large 
percentages of the population where a majority of the homes is 
merely rented. 

2. THE MEASUREMENT OF SCHOOL POPULATION 

In 191 7 all but one state of the United States had enacted com- 
pulsory education laws fixing the age limits for the attendance of 
all children in school. These age limits varied from eight to twelve 
years in North Carolina to seven to sixteen years in several states, 
with special provisions or exemptions in the latter cases for children 
between the ages of fourteen and sixteen. 

The authorities responsible for the enforcement of the law vary. 
In Connecticut, 9 political officials appoint truant officers; in Idaho, 
the probate courts, though in the large majority of states boards of 
education or equivalent bodies are charged with the selection of 
truant officers, and thus directly with the enforcement of the 
attendance law. It is presumably the intention of the law in all 
cases where it is not otherwise specified, to hold boards and officers 
charged with the enforcement of these laws responsible for the 
attendance at school during the legal age limits of all children 
residing within the respective communities, regardless of the type 
of school which they may attend or may prefer to attend. In other 
words, educational or other authorities obligated to enforce the 

9 Bulletin No. 47, 1915, United States Bureau of Education, pp. 527 ff. 



20 A School Building Program for Cities 

law are concerned with the school attendance of all children, 
whether attending public, private, or parochial schools, or having 
instruction in the home. 

Authorities responsible for the establishment of building pro- 
grams, or any extension of the school plant, are therefore required 
to think in terms of the entire number of school children for whom 
it might be necessary to make provision at any time included within 
the scope of the building program. Any policy which might sug- 
gest a less comprehensive program is self-condemnatory. 

It has been pointed out in such school surveys as those of Butte, 
Montana, Salt Lake City, Utah, St. Paul, Minnesota, and others, 
that the most satisfactory plan to be employed for the purpose of 
securing the enforcement of the compulsory attendance law is the 
installation of a permanent school census system. The apparent 
inaccuracy of many of the school census reports sent yearly to the 
United States Commissioner of Education emphasizes the need for 
such service in all of our cities. In New York and Detroit it may 
be pointed out that after such systems had been put into operation 
26,836 and 8,660 children respectively are reported to have been 
added to the school enrollment. In other words, in New York 
City after the permanent census system was installed, it became 
necessary for the school authorities to think in terms of school 
housing for an additional group of 26,836 children. 

Directly issuing from this responsibility for providing educa- 
tional facilities for all children appear such questions as these: 
What is the range of percentile relationships, as found in American 
cities, between entire population and the school census population? 
As cities grow in population can it be expected that the percentile 
relationship between total and school census population can be 
estimated with reasonable accuracy? Cannot standard percentile 
relationships be found which will assist in the enforcement of the 
compulsory attendance laws so that no children provided for by a 
school building program may be denied the educational opportu- 
nities offered, and the plant itself may function properly in the 
lives of the children for whom it has been erected? 

It appears, in answer to the first question, that though uniformity 
and accuracy are apparently lacking in the determination of school 
censu's lists, such data as are available may be of value, as compiled 



Studies in Population 21 

in Table XIII, in establishing the range of such percentages as 
might with reason be expected. 

This table, giving the frequency of the occurrences of percentile 
relations existing between school and total population, shows per- 
centages higher than forty. Table XIII is compiled from a study of 
two hundred and thirteen cities, the majority of these cities appear- 
ing twice since their percentile ratios for both 1900 and 1910 were 
taken. It was necessary to eliminate a number of cities for which no 
data appeared in the reports of the Commissioner of Education. 
Though the school census age period by which the school population 
was determined may have differed in i9io.from that in 1900, both 
relationships were recorded in this table. That there is need for a 
uniform national basis for computing school census is evident from 
the compilation. The reports of the Commissioner of Education 
show that at least twenty-seven different age periods have been 
utilized since 1900 in securing school census data in the various 
cities of the United States. The figures of Table XIII are limited 
to twenty-three of these age periods. 

An examination of the age periods draws attention to the wide 
range of percentages prevailing under each period. From an exam- 
ination of the 6-2 1 year group a natural inference may be made that 
school census figures are not always gathered with the utmost 
accuracy. It seems incredible that in one city the 6-21 year group 
should only represent 13 per cent of the total population, while in 
other cities they form 39 per cent, 42 per cent, or even 52 per cent 
of the entire population. The median percentage, 25.9 per cent, 
obtained from the 103 cases under the 6-21 year group, may be 
used as a fair measure for comparison with other school systems. 

The report of the Bureau of the Census for the thirteenth census 
of the United States, made in 19 10, gives figures for the 5-14 year 
group in cities of 25,000 and over, which do not show the wide 
distribution which is indicated by the school census figures given 
by the Commissioner of Education in his reports for 1900 and 19 10. 
Table XIV shows the percentile distribution of the 5-14 age group 
in 229 cities. The median city for this group shows a percentage 
of 17.06, while the middle 50 per cent of the cities runs between 
16.19 P er cent and 18.76 per cent. 

Table XV gives a re-grouping of the cities reported by the Com- 
missioner of Education, in the two reports mentioned, on the basis 



22 



A School Building Program for Cities 



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Studies in Population 23 

TABLE XIV 

Percentile Distribution by the 5-14 Age Groups of Population 
in Cities from 25,000 to 500,000 

United States Census of igio 





Age -period 


. J-^4 years 




Per cent 






Total 


Cities over 100,000 


Cities 25,000- 
100,000 


10 








II 








12 


2 


I 


3 


13 


2 


3 


5 


H 


2 


8 


10 


15 


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22 


33 


16 


4 


29 


33 


17 


14 


40 


54 


18 


8 


36 


44 


19 


5 


20 


25 


20 


2 


15 


17 


21 




3 


3 


22 




1 


1 


23 




I 


1 


24 








25 








Total 


50 


179 


229 


Median percentage 


16.79 


17.16 


17.06 



of the number of years of age included in the age periods. For 
instance, the 5-15, 6-16, 7-17, and 8-18 age periods are combined, 
since each age period covers ten years. The other combinations 
have been made in a like manner. This table thus permits of the 
calculation of a median for each of the ten groups which result 
from these combinations. The medians are as follows: 

Groups representing Median 

number of years percentages 

7 11. 17 

8 16. 

9 17- 

10 16.58 



24 A School Building Program for Cities 

Groups representing Median 

number of years percentages 

ii 16. 

12 23.3 

13 21.45 

14 28.50 

15 25.58 

16 , 27.94 

The assumption may be made that these medians have a fair 
degree of reliability, since there is a fairly continuous upward trend 
in the table. The medians may be utilized as one means of judg- 
ing the accuracy of any one group of census figures, with the limita- 
tions that must result from any unusual local conditions. 

Not only is the ratio existing between school and total population 
of importance in its relationship to the school building program, but 
it is highly desirable to know the relative constancy or lack of 
constancy of such ratio. A distribution is made in Table XVI of 
the differences found to exist in the percentages which the school- 
census population bears to the total population at two different 
periods. The percentages were determined from comparisons of 
the school census population as found in the annual reports of the 
Commissioner of Education for 1899-1900 and 1900-1910 with the 
total population of the United States Decennial Census of those 
two periods. 

From this tabulation it is found that the median change that 
took place in 124 cities in the percentile relationships existing be- 
tween school population and total population in 1900 and 19 10 was 
3.17 per cent. In other words, as cities grow the change in many 
instances that takes place in the proportion of the entire population 
that are of school age is very slight. In nine cases the figures as 
given in the annual reports of the United States Commissioner of 
Education, from which this tabulation was made, show a difference 
of over 10 per cent for the two decades. That error, either typo- 
graphical or clerical, is responsible for extremely high percentages 
may be inferred. It is also recognized that in some cases it has 
been necessary for the local reporting officer, owing to the non- 
existence of the necessary data, to base his 19 10 report on the 1900 
relationship. 



Studies in Population 



25 



TABLE XV: Frequency of Percentages Found to Exist between 
School Population and Total Population 

Involving 213 cities over 25,000 {United States Census of 1910). Compiled from reports 
of United States Commissioner of Education, 1800-1000 and 1909-1910. Arranged 
according to the number of years included in the census-age-periods. 



Number of 
years 


7-14 


6-14 

7-15 


8-17 


5-15 
6-16 
7-17 
8-18 


5-16 
8-19 


4-16 
5-17 
6-18 


5-18 
7-20 


4-18 
6-20 
7-21. 


5-20 
6-21 


4-20 
5-21 


8% 








1 














10 








1 














11 


310 


1 




1 












1 


12 


1 






2 






I 








13 








1 


1 








1 




14 






I 


5 










1 




" 15 








10 




I 








2 


16 




1 


1 


7 


2 


3 


I 




4 


2 


17 








6 




1 


2 


1 


3 




18 






1 


10 


1 


3 


6 




2 


2 


19 




1 


I 


5 




3 


1 


4 


4 




20 








2 




3 


3 


1 


4 




21 








1 




3 


10 


1 


7 


2 


22 








3 






5 


1 


11 


2 


23 








2 




5 


7 




5 


1 


24 












5 


5 


I 


12 


5 


25 












3 


1 


2 


7 


4 


26 












1 




1 


12 


4 


27 












3 


2 


2 


10 


4 


28 












1 


1 


1 


7 


8 


29 














1 


3 


8 


4 


30 












1 




3 


5 




3i 












2 






3 


5 


32 












2 




1 


2 


4 


33 












1 






4 


3 


34 
















2 


2 


3 


35 


















2 


6 


36 














1 


1 


2 


2 


37 


















2 


1 


38 
















1 


1 




39 
















1 


1 




41 
















1 






42 


















1 




48 
















1 






52 


















1 




55 
















1 






60 












1 










Totals 


4 


3 


4 


57 


4 


42 


47 


30 


124 


<*J 


Median 


11. 17 


16.00 


17.00 


16.58 


16.00 


23-3 


21.45 


28.50 


25.55 


27.94 



10 Read: Three cities with 7-14 years as census-age-periods reported school popu- 
lations which were eleven per cent of the total population. 



26 



A School Building Program for Cities 



How this relationship may be utilized as a basis for determining 
approximate future school enrollment is shown in the following 
excerpt from the Great Neck survey of 191 7. u In this suburban 
community, which was being newly developed in 1900-1915, the 
possibility of considerable change in the percentile relationship was 
due to the fact that many young people whose families had not 
reached normal size were building homes there. Having already 

TABLE XVI 

Differences in the Percentages which the School Census 
Population Bears to the Total Population as Cities Grow in Size 

This tabulation includes only cities of 25,000 or over, as determined by the United 
States Census figures of iqio. A uniform age basis for securing school census has 
not been adopted in the United States. Therefore distributions have been made 
on each of the prevailing bases. The figures for school census population and for 
city population were taken from the annual reports of the United States Commis- 
sioner of Education for 1899-1900 and 1900-1910. The city population figures 
are the United States Decennial Census figures for 1900 and 1910. Cities which had 
changed their age basis for securing school census in 1910 from that used in 1900 
were necessarily excluded from the tabulation. 



Differences 
in per- 


Number of cities having differences listed according to the age basis used 
for securing school census 


centages 

IQOO-IQIO 


4- 
16 


4- 
18 


4- 
20 


5- 

16 


5- 
17 


5- 
18 


5- 

15 


5- 
20 


5- 
21 


6- 

18 


6- 

20 


6- 
21 


7- 
14 


7~ 

21 


6- 
14 


Total 















2 


I 




2 




I 


7 


I 






14 


I 






1 






I 


7 


2 


I 




1 


4 








17 


2 


I 


1 


2 




I 


2 


7 


I 


4 






1 








20 


3 






1 




I 


3 


2 


I 


1 




1 


6 








16 


4 


2 




2 




I 




1 




2 


1 




8 








17 


5 


I 






1 


2 






2 




1 




3 






I 


II 


6 


I 














2 


3 


I 


1 


2 








IO 


7 














2 




1 


1 


1 


1 




I 




7 


8 


















1 






2 








3 


9 


































10 


































Over 10 










3 












1 


5 








9 


Totals 


5 


1 


6 


/ 


8 


8 


20 


8 


IS 


4 ■ 


6 


39 


J 


1 


I 


124 



Median for entire distribution — .0317 

11 Strayer and Neale, Great Neck School Survey, Great Neck Association, Great 
Neck, L. I. 



Studies in Population 



27 



established the probable total population for a period of twenty 
years in this community, Dr. Strayer in this survey utilizes this as 
the basis for the determination of future school population. 

At the present time 16.5 per cent of the population of the existing Great 
Neck school district are enrolled in school. As the population increases, and 
the percentage of relatively old population becomes larger, the percentage 
of the population attending school will undoubtedly increase. In the part of 
Queens County immediately adjacent to the Great Neck area the number of 
persons between six and twenty years of age attending school in 1910 formed 
19.8 per cent of the total population. 

This statement is based on computations made from data in Statistical 
Sources for Demographic Studies of Greater New York, Vol. I, pp. 647-686. 
The following table gives a summary of the data: 



Ages 


6-14 


i-5 


6-9 


10-14 


15-17 


18-20 


Over 20 


All ages 


Total 


















population 


6,405 


4,463 


2,799 


3,604 


1,920 


2,194 


22,181 


37J7I 


Number in 


















_j schools 


5,933 





2,509 


3,474 


1,006 


295 





7,364 


Per cent in 


















schools 


81. 1 





34 


47 


H 


4 





19.8 



In the first assembly district of Queens County the percentage was 20.4; 
in the second, 19.88; in the third, 20.3; in the fourth, 20.3; and for all of 
Queens County, 20.3. In the Richmond Borough the number of persons 
between six and twenty years of age in school was 20.5 per cent of the popu- 
lation, in Yonkers, 19.2; and in Mount Vernon, 19.7. 

It therefore seems reasonable to assume that by 1920 the total number of 
persons between six and twenty years of age attending school in the Great 
Neck area will form nineteen per cent of the total population. This figure 
will in all probability be slightly exceeded before 1940, and may be considered 
as safely conservative. On this basis the total number of school pupils to be 
provided for will be as shown in Table XVII. 

The basis for the determination of school building needs is the 
relationship between growth in school attendance and in the 
number of classrooms provided for children, expressed also in terms 
of the total number of sittings furnished. As has been shown, the 
measure for the determination of sufficiency in school attendance or 
school enrollment should be the school census. As, in many of our 



28 



A School Building Program for Cities 



American cities, private and parochial schools also draw upon the 
school census figures for their enrollment, it is necessary to secure 
accurate figures of enrollment and attendance from such schools 
in order to develop the most satisfactory building program. 

Table XVIII presents the initial comparison of school popula- 
tion and city population for a school building program. The city 
population figures should be the most accurate obtainable, prefera- 
bly the figures of the United States decennial censuses and state or 
otherwise officially authorized intermediate censuses. 

TABLE XVII 

Estimated Population and Probable Total School Enrollment 
in the Great Neck Village and Great Neck Station Areas 
from i 920-1 940 





Great Neck Village 


Great Neck Station 


Year 


Total 


Probable school 


Total 


Probable school 




population 


enrollment 


Population 


enrollment 


1920 


3.I4I 


597 


2,250 


427 • 


1925 


3,641 


692 


3,650 


693 


1930 


4,241 


806 


5,550 


I.054 


1935 


4,941 


939 


7,750 


1,472 


1940 


5,741 


1,091 


IO,IOO 


I-9I9 



The total population figures of this table are those of the Financial 
Statistics of Cities. The school census-age-period is six to twenty- 
one. Such data, as given in Table XVIII, should cover a period of 
at least twenty years where a program is actually being developed. 

Table XIX will give the proportion of children in public, private, 
and parochial school enrollment with comparison of the total with 
the school census figures. 

Evidently the building program in Rockford does not involve 
any great consideration of school enrollment outside of the public 
schools. This situation may be contrasted with that found in many 
other American cities where the problem of school building plan- 
ning becomes much more involved because of the large percentage 
of children in other than public schools. 

Table XX points out clearly the need for full consideration of 
the percentages of columns 6, 7, and 8. Column 6 indicates that 



Studies in Population 



29 



for Dunkirk, N. Y., the public school building policy has of necessity 
involved an approximate average of 66 per cent of all children 
enrolled in school during the period 1900-1916 and hence a smaller 
percentage of the school census. 

Unfortunately the articulation between public, private, and 
parochial schools has in many cities not been such that accurate 
figures for column four may be obtained. It is highly essential and 

TABLE XVIII 

Relationship Between Total Population and School Census, 
Rockford, III. 









Relationship between 








school census 


Year 


Total 


School 


and total 




population 


census 


population 
Per cent 


1910 


45,401 


IO,959 


24 


1911 


48,068 


n,375 


23.6 


1912 


49,491 


1 1 ,904 


24 


1913 


50,914 


11,604 


22.7 


1914 


51,337 


12,148 


23.6 



TABLE XIX 

Distribution of Children in Public and Other Schools 
for 1910-1914, Rockford, Illinois 12 





Children 
of school 








Percentage 


Percentage 






Children 


Children 


Total 


of total 


of total 


Percentage 


Year 


in 


in 


school 


school 


school 


of school 




public 


private 


enroll- 


enrollment 


enrollment 


census 




age 
6-21 


schools 


schools 


ment 


in public 
schools 


in private 
schools 


in school 


1910 


10,959 


7,504 


543 


8,047 


93 


7 


68 


1911 


n,375 


7,983 


560 


8,543 


93 


7 


70 


1912 


11,904 


8,091 


712 


8,803 


92 


8 


68 


1913 


11,604 


8,369 


883 


9,252 


90 


10 


72 


1914 


12,148 


8,645 


820 


9,465 


91 


9 


71 



12 Data from the Report of the United States Commissioner of Education, 1910-1914. 



30 



A School Building Program for Cities 



no doubt economically advantageous to a community to secure the 
utmost of cooperation between all schools providing educational 
opportunities for children. The figures given in Table XX should 
be free from duplications due to transfers from one type of school 
to the other. A central system of census registration for all chil- 
dren with uniform child accounting methods employed m all types 
of schools will alone produce dependable data. 

A very desirable measurement which would naturally follow the 
above distributions of children is the relationship existing between 
total enrollment of all children and building accommodations of 
public, private, and parochial schools as well as between average 
daily attendance and building accommodations of the same schools. 
In securing the figure for total school building accommodations 
of the city much caution is necessary. The following difficulties 
must be met. Elementary classrooms must be uniformly counted 
as accommodating forty children each unless used for special class 
purposes. In the latter case these rooms must be included as 

TABLE XX 

Distribution of Children in Public and Non-Public Schools, 
1900-1916, Dunkirk, N. Y. 13 



June 


School census 
of children 
4-18 years 


Chil- 
dren 
in 
public 
schools 


Chil- 
dren 
in 
paro- 
chial 
schools 


Total 

at- 
tended 

all 
schools 


Percentage 
of total 

enrollment 

in 

public 

schools 


Percentage 
of total 

enrollment 
in 

parochial 
schools 


Per- 
centage 
of census 
in all 
schools 


Col. 
1 


Column 
2 


Col. 
3 


Column 
4 


Column 
S 


Column 
6 


Column 

7 


Column 
8 


1900 

1905 
1910 
1911 
1912 

1913 
1914 

1915 
1916 


In 1897 — 2,916 

In 1901 — 2,941 

3,350 

3.967 

4,400 
4,800 
5,000 


1.755 

1,849 

2,415 
2,427 

2,405 
2,977 
2,650 

2,949 
3,309 


837 

930 
1,290 
1,562 
1,559 
1,318 

1,685 
i,358 


2,592 

2,779 
3,705 
3,989 
3,964 
4,295 

4,634 
4,667 


68 

66 

65 
61 
61 
69 

63 
71 


32 

34 
35 
39 
39 
3i 

37 
29 


85 

80 
93 

97 
93 



13 Triennial Report, Dunkirk, N. Y., Public Schools, 1916. 



Studie.s in Population 



31 



accommodating the maximum number of children desirable in such 
special groups. The maximum kindergarten accommodations, 
without duplication of morning and afternoon sessions, will form a 
part of the total. The difficulty of ascertaining with exactness the 
number of students for whom accommodations can be found in 
the high schools, coupled with the lack of uniformity in reckoning 
such data, must be recognized. It is wise to provide divisions in 
the table by which the high school and elementary school elements 
may be studied separately. 

Having made comparisons of this nature between the school enroll- 
ment and average daily attendance and seating accommodations 
of all the schools of the city, it becomes necessary to show the rela- 
tionships, on the same basis, for each set of schools, i. e., public, 
parochial, and private. It no doubt will become clear in commu- 
nities where the parochial enrollment is a large percentage of the 
total enrollment that the public school system, in providing hous- 
ing accommodations, has conformed more reasonably to the 'forty 
pupils per room' standard than the parochial school. Parochial 
schools with average enrollments of seventy pupils or more per 
classroom will Lave brought to their attention the need for con- 
formance with a better standard. 

In order to provide the most complete analysis of school housing 
needs involving all the schools of a city, a percentile classification 
of all elementary classrooms, both parochial or private, arranged 
according to the number of children housed therein, will show the 
situation most clearly. Such a tabulation will take the following 
form: 





Number and percentage of all classrooms 




Public 


Parochial 


Private 


Total 


Classrooms having 
enrollments of 


Number 


Per 
cent 


Number 


Per 
cent 


Number 


Per 

cent 


Number 


Per 

cent 


20 pupils or less 
21-25 pupils 
26-30 pupils 
31-35 pupils 
36-40 pupils 
etc. 










- 









32 A School Building Program for Cities 

Most frequently the attempt is made in reports of superinten- 
dents of schools to express this information in terms of the average 
number of pupils per teacher based on average daily attendance. 
Table XXI, from the St. Paul Survey, is a sample of such compila- 
tions, distributed by schools over a period of six years. The survey 
states that "no statistics of this kind were available in the superin- 
tendent's office, and they were only obtained after much effort. 
It will be seen that the average for the city in the grade schools has 
been very large for a period of years. There is no place for the 
addition of pupils without seriously impairing the efficiency of in- 
struction." It is quite true that enrollment or attendance distribu- 
tions of this kind are unfortunately not always available in the 
data collected in school offices. In the form given in Table XXI the 
information may be misleading. 

Table XXII 14 is far more illuminating. It becomes quite clear 
why this table is vital in any building study. In the five-year period 
the mode shifts from the 40-45 group of average number belonging 
to the 35-40 group. In the same period this shift necessitated an 
addition of 105 teachers to the elementary staff in spite of the fact 
that the elementary school enrollment was practically at a stand- 
still for this same period, as shown on page 17 of this report. The 
addition of 105 teachers means, with possibly slight exceptions, the 
provision of 105 more elementary classrooms. 

If Louisville desired to reduce the burdens of the seventy teachers 
having over forty-five pupils belonging on the average, the cost in 
new building construction might easily be estimated. Seven thou- 
sand dollars per classroom was a fair estimate of elementary building 
costs previous to 1914. This amounts to approximately $155 for 
each child for whom provisions would be necessary if the limit of 
pupils per teacher were set at forty-five. 

3. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION 

Dot maps illustrating densities of total population and of school 
population show frequently no conformity in the distributions. In 
other words, density of child population does not shift with density 
of total population. This was borne out clearly in the school build- 
ing program as laid out by Strayer and Trabue for the community 

14 Fifth Report of the Board of Education, Louisville, Ky., 1915-1916, p. 29. 



Studies in Population 

TABLE XXI 

Average Number of Pupils per Teacher, Based on 
Average Daily Attendance 



33 



St. Paul, Minnesota 





igio-igii 


iQii-1912 


1912-1913 


1913-1914 


1914-1915 


1915-1916 


Adams 


39 


39 


40 


32 


34 


36 


Ames 


33 


34 


41 


37 


45 


36 


Baker 


38 


40 


40 


35 


35 


3i 


Cleveland 


31 


38 


39 


38 


35 


36 


Crowley 


38 


36 


34 


44 


4i 


35 


Davis 


40 


40 


39 


39 


39 


36 


Dean 


28 


26 


31 


30 


32 


29 


Douglas 


45 


43 


44 


40 


45 


42 


Drew 


49 


40 


4i 


44 


42 


36 


Edison 








45 


43 


44 


Ericson 


38 


43 


43 


42 


44 


45 


Franklin 


41 


39 


34 


35 


37 


46 


Galtier 




34 


36 


4i 


42 


39 


Garfield 


39 


4i 


41 


39 


47 




Girls' Home 










8 


20 


Gordon 




33 


33 


37 


36 


43 


Gorman 


47 


40 


37 


39 


39 


5i 


Grant 


41 


37 


37 


37 


35 


37 


Hancock 


45 


41 


39 


43 


43 


31 


Harrison 


45 


37 


4i 


38 


33 


37 


Hawthorne 


42 


42 


35 


4i 


39 


43 


Hendricks 


44 


38 


38 


4i 


44 


42 


Hill 


44 


42 


37 


38 


40 


43 


Homecroft 








32 


28 


32 


Irving 


42 


38 


39 


38 


41 


39 


Jackson 


46 


39 


41 


4i 


36 


33 


Jefferson 


40 


36 


38 


4i 


36 


37 


Lafayette 


47 


50 


4i 


45 


36 


39 


Lincoln 


36 


36 


37 


37 


36 


3i 


Logan 


29 


30 


27 


27 


33 


21 


Longfellow 


40 


39 


36 


33 


35 


38 


McClellan 


40 


37 


41 


38 


36 


42 


McKinley 


43 


40 


38 


36 


33 


42 


Madison 


42 


39 


32 


36 


32 


38 


Mattocks 




29 


32 


17 


19 


22 


Maxfield 


42 


4i 


41 


43 


42 


37 


Monroe 


42 


43 


36 


39 


33 


34 


Mound Park 


4i 


43 


40 


34 


31 


33 


Murray 


37 


38 


38 


4i 


31 


36 


Neill 


38 


36 


33 


30 


42 


36 



34 



A School Building Program for Cities 

TABLE XXI (Continued) 





1910-1911 


1911-1912 


1912-1913 


1913-1914 


1914-1915 


1915-1916 


Phalen Park 


43 


43 


4i 


39 


41 


42 


Quincy 


22 


25 


26 


20 


22 


38 


Ramsey 


37 


46 


47 


40 


34 


39 


Randolph 








38 


61 


41 


Rice 


27 


32 


24 


38 


52 


38 


Scheffer 


41 


40 


41 


38 


37 


42 


Sheridan 


30 


3i 


22 


25 


27 


34 


Sibley 


4i 


39 


43 


38 


38 


45 


Smith 


40 


35 


36 


3i 


39 


33 


Taylor 


26 


20 


15 


29 


28 


26 


Tilden 


34 


29 


34 


27 


28 


25 


Van Buren 


35 


34 


33 


3i 


37 


34 


Webster 


33 


35 


33 


37 


38 


36 


Whittier 


40 


40 


39 


37 


44 


38 


Entire City 


39-7 


38.2 


37 


37-6 


36.9 


37-6 



of Pelham, N. Y., in May, 1917. The following is an excerpt from 
their report 15 to the Board of Education. 

During the five-year period between the federal census of 1910 and the 
state census of 1915, the population of the town of Pelham increased from 
2,998 persons to 3,782 — an increase of twenty-six per cent. That section of 
the town lying north of the New Haven Railroad, known as the village of 
North Pelham, increased during this period from 1,311 to 1,874 persons — an 
increase of forty-three per cent. The Pelham Heights section had a sixteen 
per cent increase during this five-year period, while the Pelham Manor sec- 
tion increased only eleven per cent. The best estimate we have been able 
to make of the present distribution of population indicates that there are 
very nearly 4,000 persons now living in the town, half of them living north 
and half of them living south of the New Haven Railroad. It may reason- 
ably be expected that the town of Pelham will contain 6,000 persons by the 
year 1925. Under normal circumstances this would mean that school 
accommodations would be necessary for at least 1,200 pupils by that time. 

From information furnished by the pupils who attended school on Monday, 
May 14, we find that the average family supplying children for the schools 
from the Pelham Manor and Pelham Heights sections, contains 4.7 persons. 
The average school family in that section of North Pelham, known as Pelham- 
wood, contains 3.9 persons, while the average family supplying the schools 
from the remainder of North Pelham contains 5.5 persons. The average 

16 Unpublished. 



Studies in Population 



35 



TABLE XXII 

Pupils per Teacher in the Elementary Grades 

The success of the Board of Education in so administering the school funds that 
613 teachers are now employed in the regular elementary grades, as against 508 in 
January, iqii, has resulted in greatly reducing the number of abnormally large 
classes. This is shown in the following table. 



Average number 


January 


October 


October 


October 


October 


October 


belonging per teacher 


IQII 


IQI2 


IQI3 


1914 


1915 


1916 


15- 20 






9 


7 


4 


6 


20- 25 


18 


16 


20 


18 


18 


33 


25- 30 


34 


40 


34 


72 


63 


56 


30- 35 


55 


91 


84 


88 


86 


119 


35- 40 


72 


122 


119 


133 


146 


202 


40- 45 


96 


124 


145 


125 


183 


127 


45- 50 


90 


87 


9i 


88 


71 


51 


50- 55 


53 


41 


39 


38 


19 


17 


55- 60 


40 


17 


12 


11 


8 


2 


60- 65 


26 


4 


4 


I 






65- 70 


12 


1 


1 


2 






70- 75 


3 


1 




1 






75" 80 


4 






I 






80- 85 














85- 90 














90- 95 














95-100 














100-105 














Total number of 














teachers 


508 


544 u 


558" 


585" 


598 16 


613™ 



family in general throughout New York State and the United States as a 
whole, was composed in 1910 of about 4.5 persons. The small size of the 
Pelhamwood families is partly due to the fact that this section is being 
developed just now, and that the great majority of those who are building 
homes here are young people whose families may be expected to reach the 
normal size during the next ten years. The problem of elementary school 
accommodations for the children of Pelhamwood will probably become most 
urgent in about five years. 



16 See Louisville report for special teachers not included here. 



36 



A School Building Program for Cities 



It becomes clear that a distribution of total city population by 
school districts or by wards and years of a past decade on the basis 
of the number of persons per family, coupled with a comparison 
with national urban figures for the same period, will tend to show 
the general trend of growth in the younger elements of population. 
Such a distribution made by the Nebraska Telephone Company, 
involving the years 1900 and 1910, with an estimate for the year 
!933> is given in Table XXIII. 

TABLE XXIII 
Persons per Family Distributed by Wards, Omaha, Neb. 



Years 


1QOO 17 


IQIO 


1933 {estimated) 


Ward 1 


4.86 


471 


4.6 


2 


4.62 


4-75 


4.6 


3 


6.02 


7-03 


8 


4 


5-53 


6.61 


6 


5 


4.61 


4.11 


4.1 


6 


4.72 


4.22 


4-3 


7 


5-07 


4-63 


4-45 


8 


4.78 


4-79 


4-65 


9 


4-77 


4-5 


4.4 


10 




4-47 


4-45 


11 




4.52 


4-5 


12 




4-35 


445 



The estimates for 1933 are based on considerations of the urban 
changes in the United States during the first part of the period, the 
ages and characteristics of the families involved in the study when 
made in 191 3, as well as the nationalities included in the various 
wards. 

When Table XXIII is coupled with a tabulation showing the 
number of families by wards, its value in prognosis becomes appar- 
ent. Table XXIV presents the statistics for Omaha with the dis- 
tribution by families for 1900-1910, with the estimate for 1933. 

A critical study of these tables will bring to light many points of 
value in schoolhouse planning. The following inferences may have 
some validity. 

17 Wards 10, 11, and 12 were not included within city boundaries at this period. 



Studies in Population 



37 



Ward 3 may present for instruction more than the normal num- 
ber of children per family, but the ward is becoming undesirable 
from the standpoint of residence. Wards 5 and 7 will send to school 
but few children per family, but are two of the most rapidly grow- 
ing wards. Ward 1 contains more of the older families, and will see 
few changes in the next few years. 

If Tables XXIII and XXIV were to be studied in the light of 
the ward areas, or in terms of density of square mile of available 

TABLE XXIV 
Omaha Families Distributed according to Wards 



Years 


IQOO 18 


IQ10 


1 033 {estimated) 


Ward 1 


2,083 


i,937 


2,390 


2 


3,211 


2,468 


3,290 


3 


1,941 


1,091 


607 


4 


1,936 


i,542 


2,000 


5 


1,950 


2,906 


4,975 


6 


3,600 


2,423 


3,490 


7 


1,872 


2,134 


4,500 


8 


2,313 


1,766 


i,935 


9 


I,8l7 


2,600 


4,617 


10 




2,106 


2,240 


11 




2,050 


3,634 


12 




3,336 


8,080 




20,723 


26,359 


41,758 



area, with such omissions as parks, railroads, and other areas not 
utilized in housing, the wide dispersion of population in certain wards 
with a higher concentration in other wards, would appear as facts 
of exceeding importance in school building planning. Ward 3 of 
Tables XXIII and XXIV would change from a square mile density 
of 87,000 in 1910 to an estimated density of 55,000 in 1933, while 
Ward 9 would shift from a 9,600 square mile density in 1910 to an 
estimated density of 16,700 per square mile in 1933. Such facts 
might be best presented by dot maps for each period, thus provid- 
ing means for a clear visualization of the contrast. 

18 Wards 10, n, and 12 were not included in city's boundaries at this period. 



38 



A School Building Program for Cities 



The assumptions regarding nature of growth in various sections 
of a city have been very clearly expressed in a map appearing in 
A Constructive Survey of the Milwaukee School Buildings and Sites 
of iqi6. This map is reproduced in Fig. 5. 



KEY 




Fig. 5 



The city is here divided into sections and marked B, G, S, or R, 
according to the expected nature of the change 19 in population for 
a period of ten years, the letters being explained in the key connected 
with the figure. The Milwaukee Committee followed this map in 
their survey with a second map re-dividing the city into thirteen 
other sections composed of groupings of school districts. This 
rearrangement permitted of discussion and suggested solutions of 
sectional problems. The assumptions regarding nature of popula- 
tion growth appearing in Fig. 5 are of value in estimating growth of 
school population and its geographic distribution only as the 

19 Data furnished by the Wisconsin Telephone Company. 



Studies in Population 39 

assumed elements of growth that overlap existing school district 
boundaries are given proportional consideration in the estimates of 
future school population in such districts. 

Utilizing a most conservative and thorough study of expected 
increases in city population over the period 1913-1933, distributed 
by wards, made by the Nebraska Telephone Company in Omaha, 
Nebraska, the author found it possible to re-apportion population 
on a basis of school districts rather than wards. This re-apportion- 
ment is shown in Table XXV. The expected percentages of in- 
crease by wards had been carefully estimated by the Telephone 
Company after having made a study of housing conditions and 
future housing possibilities. The author, with the aid of Mr. 
Everts, of the Telephone Company, who had had an active part in 
the original study of the Telephone Company, carefully covered 
the entire city area and determined on the percentages of growth, 
as indicated in the table, for the several school districts of the city. 
The original study involved the period 1913-1933. The school 
district study involved the period 191 7-1933. 

The expected percentage of growth in total population may be 
utilized in determining estimates of growth in school population for 
the same period. Table XXVI follows this suggestion. This table 
gives the enrollment by school districts for the kindergarten and the 
first six grades of the city of Omaha for 191 7, the expected per- 
centage in growt'i in total population 191 7-1933, and the estimated 
enrollment for the kindergarten and first six grades in 1933 based 
upon this same expected percentage of growth. This table points 
out that Omaha may expect an elementary enrollment of 29,254 
in 1933, or an increase of 8,717 children from the figures of 1917. 
At the time the Omaha survey was made, 4,156 children of Grades 
VII and VIII were being housed in the elementary schools. It was 
suggested that if the elementary buildings were relieved of the 
necessity of housing children of these two grades, the elemen- 
tary plant, with a few changes and with the present new build- 
ings completed, might well be expected to provide sufficient accom- 
modations for all children from the kindergarten through the sixth 
grade for the next eight years. The conclusion was based upon the 
assumption that the expected increase in the period 191 7-1933 
would be reasonably regular. 



4 o 



A School Building Program for Cities 



TABLE XXV 

The Population of the City of Omaha Distributed by School 
Districts 

Calculations based upon a house count made by the Nebraska Telephone Company 
in 1 Qi 3, and an estimated growth in the various districts from J 913 to 1933 





Estimated 


Expected percentage 




'Name of school 


population 


of increase between 


Population 


district 


in 1 91 7 


1917 and 1933 


of 1933 


Bancroft 


2,594 


35-0 


3,490 


Beals 


2,699 


121. 


5,955 


Brown Park 


2,656 


18.0 


3,H0 


Cass 


4,824 


I.I 


4,880 


Castelar 


3,486 


25-9 


4,390 


Central 


8,076 


24.8 


10,080 


Central Park 


3,420 


1 19-3 


7,500 


Clifton Hill 


2,770 


110.5 


5,830 


Columbian 


5,139 


96.8 


10,115 


Comenius 


3,950 


5i 


4,150 


Corrigan 


2,134 


32.6 


2,830 


Druid Hill 


i,332 


42.6 


1,900 


Dundee 


3,36o 


108.3 


7,000 


Dupont 


2,068 


I3-I 


2,340 


Edward Rosewater 


2,282 


17.0 


2,670 


Farnam 


3,896 


35-5 


5,280 


Franklin 


3,5io 


35-3 


4,750- 


Garfield 


2,251 


3-7 


2,335 


Hawthorne 


1,860 


12.9 


2,100 


Highland 


2,180 


33-0 


2,900 


Howard Kennedy 


994 


78.1 


1,770 


Jungmann 


2,400 


16.6 


2,800 


Kellom 


7,878 


14.6 


9,030 


Lake 


5,006 


14.9 


5,750 


Lincoln 


3,214 


10.5 


3,550 


Long 


5,39o 


n. 1 


5,990 


Lothrop 


10,630 


24.8 


13,270 


Lowell 


1,080 


1-9 


1,100 


Madison 


1,380 


23.2 


1,700 


Mason 


8,160 


25.2 


10,220 


Miller Park 


3,440 


152.9 


8,700 


Monmouth Park 


2,996 


99.6 


5,98o 


Pacific 


7,590 


3-7 


7,870 


Park 


4,593 


19.6 


5,925 



Studies in Population 

TABLE XXV— {Continued) 



41 



Name of school ■ 
district 


Estimated 

■population 

in IQ17 


Expected percentage 

of increase between 

1917 and 1934 


Population 
of 1 933 


Saratoga > 


5,158 


84.4 


9,510 


Saunders 


4,583 


56.1 


7,155 


Sherman 


770 


129.8 


1,770 


South Central 


5,128 


6-5 


5,460 


South Franklin 


2,248 


82.4 


4.IOO 


South Lincoln 


2,906 


7-7 


3,130 


Train 


2,l6o 


11. 1 


2,400 


Vinton 


.3,696 


16.8 


4,320 


Walnut Hill 


3,250 


43-6 


4,670 


Webster 


7,926 


35-6 


10,750 


West Side 


3,352 


32.5 


4,440 


Windsor 


2,440 


55-7 


3,800 


Total 


170,765 




238,795 



The Trend of Population in a Large City 

In making recommendations for the locations of buildings in the 
survey conducted in St. Paul in 19 17, consideration was given to 
every possible means for determining the growth in the various 
sections of the city. In order to show the trend of population, 
the following data were utilized: (1) the numbers of voters by 
wards in mayoralty campaigns; (2) the number of dwelling per- 
mits officially issued from 1910 to 191 7; (3) the present and pro- 
spective location of factories; (4) the extension of lines planned 
by the telephone companies; (5) the desirable territory still avail- 
able for home sites; (6) the increase in elementary school children 
in the various wards; (7) growth of the city in land additions. It 
will be noted that all of these data pointed to the 7th, 10th, nth, 
and 1 2th wards as the wards of greatest growth. 

1 . The returns in the mayoralty campaigns indicated substantial 
growth in the numbers of voters in Wards I, 2, 5, 6, 7, 10, II, and 
12. The last three showed the greatest development. 

2. The dwelling building permits issued showed the greatest 
increases in Wards 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, n, and 12. In Table XXVIII 



4 2 



A School Building Program for Cities 



TABLE XXVI 
Estimated Enrollment in the Elementary Schools from the Kinder- 
garten THROUGH THE SlXTH GRADE FOR THE YEAR 1933 BASED UPON 

the Enrollment in 19 17, and the Estimated Percentage 

of Increase in the Total Population of Each 

School District for the Period 191 7 to 1933 



Name of school 


Enrollment 


Expected percentage 


Estimated 


district and 


1917 


of growth 


enrollment 


building 


1017-1933 


for 1933 


Bancroft 


354 


35-0 


478 


Beals 


239 


121. 


528 


Belvidere 


133 


99.6 


398 


Brown Park 


428 


I8.0 


505 


Cass 


479 


I.I 


484 


Castelar 


508 


25-9 


640 


Central 


686 


24.8 


856 


Central Park 


386 


1 19-3 


847 


Clifton Hill 


480 


110.5 


I.OIO 


Columbian 


413 


96.8 


813 


Comenius 


441 


5-1 


463 


Corrigan 


396 


32.6 


525 


Druid Hill 


249 


42.6 


355 


Dundee 


486 


108.3 


1,012 


Dupont 


104 


I3-I 


118 


Edward Rosewater 


3i8 


17.0 


372 


Farnam 


594 


35-5 


805 


Franklin 


5i8 


35-3 


701 


Garfield 


192 


37 


199 


Hawthorne 


276 


12.9 


312 


Highland 


320 


33-o 


425 


Howard Kennedy 


587 


78.1 


1,045 


Jungmann 


315 


16.6 


367 


Kellom 


876 


14.6 


1,004 


Lake 


800 


14.9 


919 


Lincoln 


461 


10.5 


509 


Long 


805 


11. 1 


894 


Lothrop 


816 


24.8 


1,108 


Lowell 


100 


i-9 


no 


Madison 


235 


23.2 


290 


Mason 


704 


25.2 


881 


Miller Park 


508 


152.9 


1,285 


Monmouth Park 


460 


99.6 


918 


Pacific 


388 


37 


402 



Studies in Population 

TABLE XXVI— {Continued) 



43 



Name of school 


Enrollment 


Expected percentage 


Estimated 


district and 


. of growth 


enrollment 


building 


1917 


1917-1033 


for 1 Q33 


Park 


602 


19.6 


720 


Saratoga 


485 


84.4 


894 


Saunders 


354 


56.1 


553 


Sherman 


216 


129.8 


496 


South Central 


343 


6-5 


365 


South Franklin 


250 


82.4 


456 


South Lincoln 


365 


77 


393 


Train 


545 


11. 1 


605 


Vinton 


365 


16.8 


416 


Walnut Hill 


387 


43-6 


556 


Webster 


463 


35-6 


628 


West Side 


56i 


32.5 


743 


Windsor 


546 


55-7 


850 


Total 


20,537 




29,254 



TABLE XXVII 
Ward Increases in Voters in St. Paul City Elections for Mayor 



Wards 


1900 


1904 


1906 


1908 


1910 


1912 


1914 


I 


2,547 


2,638 


2,762 


3,270 


3,148 


3,56i 


3,425 


2 


2,164 


2,379 


2,674 


3,037 


3,053 


3,408 


3,344 


3 


1,114 


1,249 


1,149 


1,114 


1,129 


1,028 


779 


4 


2,220 


2,485 


2,313 


2,321 


2,369 


2,069 


1,935 


5 


2,529 


2,664 


2,830 


3,248 


3,236 


3,58i 


3,315 


6 


2,395 


2,717 


2,702 


3,152 


3,o57 


3,321 


3,236 


7 


2,288 


2,602 


2,814 


3,650 


3,605 


4,106 


4,312 


8 


3,795 


4,173 


4,59o 


4,016 


3,855 


4,064 


4,031 


9 


2,348 


2,602 


2,434 


2,701 


2,447 


2,572 


2,490 


10 


815 


i,i37 


1,127 


1,489 


1,588 


1,972 


2,151 


11 


651 


853 


1,095 


1,662 


1,888 


2,691 


2,875 


12 








i,472 


1,586 


2,040 


2,157 


Total 


22,857 


25,499 


26,4.90 


31,042 


30,759 


34,493 


34,046 



44 



A School Building Program for Cities 



are given the numbers of permits issued for each ward for the years 
1910-1916. The number of dwellings erected was considered a 
better index than total dwelling costs. 

3. The industrial map of the city offered opportunity for noting 
the dispersion of factories over the entire city area and the tendency 
for workers to seek homes near their working centers. Prospective 
developments in respect to railroad, belt lines, and possible factory 
and packing-house sites, were considered through the agency of the 
map. 

4. The telephone companies were planning the greatest exten- 
sion of their trunk lines in the nth, 5th, and 12th wards, in the 
order given. 

5. From Table XXIX, which gives the population of the city by 
wards, it was observed that Wards 2, 10, and n have the lowest 
density of population in the city. These wards have many available 
home sites that are now vacant. 

6. The tabulation of all children attending the elementary pub- 
lic schools of the city showed the greatest growth in the 7th, 10th, 
and nth wards. 



TABLE XXVIII 

Numbers of Dwelling Building Permits Issued in St. Paul, 
1910-1916. Distribution by Wards 



Wards 


IQIO 


1911 


1912 


1913 


1914 


1915 


1916 


Total 


I 


132 


105 


69 


69 


108 


133 


144 


730 


2 


112 


125 


129 


156 


in 


137 


152 


922 


3 


1 


2 


5 


1 


2 






II 


4 


10 


2 


2 


1 




4 


8 


27 


5 


99 


69 


93 


94 


90 


84 


105 


634 


6 


117 


88 


100 


85 


87 


105 


73 


655 


7 


119 


127 


161 


141 


122 


139 


112 


921 


8 


IOI 


95 


76 


79 


57 


59 


42 


509 


9 


39 


43 


24 


30 


26 


19 


21 


202 


10 


188 


238 


225 


204 


270 


242 


218 


I>585 


11 


325 


183 


242 


321 


328 


361 


308 


2,068 


12 


173 


188 


in 


127 


105 


96 


122 


922 


Total 


1,416 


1,265 


i,237 


1,308 


1,306 


i,379 


i,275 


9,l86 



Studies in Population 



45 



7. The map issued in the Annual Report of the City Commissioner 
of Public Works, 1 91 5, showing the dates of land additions to the 
city emphasized the fact that Wards 2, 10, and 11, being the most 
recent and largest additions, offered most opportunity for growth. 

In addition to the factors outlined above, the utilization of 
numerous other elements which foretell trend of population is 
desirable when data are available. Such additional factors may 
include : already planned and prospective street railway extensions ; 
complete data from the municipal water supply and sewer depart- 
ments outlining their future programs; the program for street 
paving, boulevarding, and extension of the park system; and 
changes both present and future in types of residence; for example, 
from single dwelling houses to modern city apartments. 

The Location of Junior High Schools and High Schools 

The extensive changes that are being introduced into the curricu- 
lum of the seventh, eighth, and ninth years of our public schools 
are necessitating a differentiation in housing and equipment for 
these years. Some progressive communities are already segregating 
the children of the junior high school in buildings especially equipped 

TABLE XXIX 
Population of St. Paul by Wards 2 ° 



Wards 


Total population 


Per square -mile 


I 


27,230 


6,964 


2 


26,540 


1,878 


3 


6,230 


13,844 


4 


I5.3IO 


29.442 


5 


26,220 


6,416 


6 


25,710 


6,136 


7 


34.230 


15,419 


8 


31,840 


10,867 


9 


19,780 


8,991 


10 


17,000 


3,096 


11 


22,870 


2,437 


12 


17,040 


6,430 




270,000 


4,870 



20 From 1915 report, City Commissioner of Public Works. 



4 6 



A School Building Program for Cities 



for this work and located with especial reference to the elementary 
school districts from which the junior high school obtains its pupils. 

For the location of junior high schools consideration must be 
granted a number of highly important factors. In the smaller 
sized cities proximity to the senior high school is desirable in order 
to avoid duplication of equipment. In the larger cities it has been 
found possible to select natural land divisions in each of which the 
possible enrollment for the three years of the junior high school 
would suffice for a reasonably sized school. Eight such divisions 
were planned for St. Paul by the Survey Committee in 191 7 with 
possible enrollments varying from 516 to 1,020 children. It was 
estimated that the enrollments of the majority of these schools 
would not exceed 1 ,200 in a period of ten years. 

The method of location of proposed intermediate schools for 
Omaha is shown in Table XXXI. It was suggested that these 
schools be built in the order given in the table and that centraliza- 
tion with respect to all the elementary buildings named in each 
group should be a desirable criterion. Proximity to car lines was 
also considered essential for each site. In the determination of 
priority of construction certain standards prevailed, such as the 
elimination of sectional favoritism, the relief from present conges- 
tion of elementary schools in the order of their needs, the hope of 



TABLE XXX 
Children Attending Elementary Public Schools 



Wards 


1005-1006 


iqi5-iqi6 


Gain 


Loss 


Per cent 


I 


4,856 


4,265 




591 


— 12.2 


2 


2,615 


2,543 




72 


- 2.8 


3 


1,350 


991 




359 


- 26.6 


4 


1,100 


938 




162 


- 14.7 


5 


3,783 


3,38o 




403 


— IO.7 


6 


3,365 


3,58i 


216 




+ 6.4 


7 


1,883 


2,415 


532 




+ 28.3 


8 


3,069 


2,684 




385 


- 12.5 


9 


1,017 


683 




334 


- 32.8 


10 


1,366 


2,512 


1,146 




+ 83.9 


11 


1,020 


2,315 


1,295 




+ I27.O 


12 


1,181 


1,358 


177 




+ 15-0 



Studies in Population 



47 



providing immediate assistance to certain types of homes in segre- 
gated sections where the practical education of the junior high 
school might be utilized in making the home more sanitary and 
habitable, and the need for parks and playgrounds. The 1933 

TABLE XXXI 

Proposed Intermediate Schools for Omaha, Nebr. 



To be erected in the order named and centrally located 
to the schools of each group 



First school 



Second school 



Third school 



Fourth school 



Fifth school 



Sixth school 



Seventh school • 



Eighth school 



j Providing for children from Long, Kel- 
\ lorn, Cass, one-half of Lake. 

[ Providing for children from Vinton, 
Bancroft, Lincoln, Castelar, Comen- 
ius, Pacific, and Train. 

Providing for children from Central, ] 
two-thirds of Columbian, Farnam, 
one-half of Franklin, one-half of 

Saunders, Webster. j 

Providing for children from one-half 1 
of Monmouth Park, Lothrop, Sara- I 
toga, one-half of Lake, Kennedy, j 
and Druid Hill. j 

Providing for children from Garfield, 
South Lincoln, South Central, Haw- 
thorne, Jungmann, Madison, Brown 
Park. It is suggested that this school 
form the first three years of a six- 
year South High School, and be 
housed in the same building. 

Proposed for children from one-half of 
Farnam, Park, Mason, Windsor, 
one-third of Columbian. 

Providing for children from Lowell, 
South Franklin, Highland, West 
Side, Corrigan. 

Providing for children from Walnut, 
Hill, Clifton Hill, one-third of Frank- 
lin, one-half of Saunders and Dundee. 



(Providing for children from Miller 
Park, Belvidere, Central Park, Sher- 
man, and one-half of Monmouth Park. 



Possible attendance 

from seventh, eighth 

and ninth grades in 

September, 1917 



Estimated 

attendance 

in September, 1933 



837 



692 



1.255 



671 



805 



960 



4 8 



A School Building Program for Cities 



figures for Table XXXI were determined by utilizing the expected 
percentage of increase in total population of each school district of 
the city for the period 1917-1933. It was estimated that these 
grades would increase at approximately the same rate. 

If any uniform practice has developed in the location of the senior 
high school in our smaller cities it has emphasized the idea of 
centrality alone without due regard to the advisability of securing 
a site adequate for extensions to the plant as well as for play 
purposes. Centrality of site frequently offers many obstacles to 
the proper location of the second and third high school as cities grow. 
It is obvious that such elements as environment, adequacy of site, 
opportunity for proper architectural setting, and proximity to street 
car lines, are far more important than centrality. The location of 
any new high school building involves such considerations as: the 



TABLE XXXII 

A Comparison between Location of High School Population and 
City Population of Omaha, Nebr. 

Central High School and High School of Commerce only are included, and only 
that part of city population located north of F Street 







Percentage 


Percentage of high 




1917 


of city 


school population 


Population living 


city popu- 
lation 


population 
involved 






Boys 


Girls 


Total 


I. Between Leavenworth and Cuming 


40,173 


27.6 


27.6 


27.O 


27-3 


2. North of Cuming, including Lake 


24,701 


17.0 


20.1 


20.8 


20.5 


3. North of Lake, including Pratt 


11,021 


7.6 


II. 2 


II. I 


II. I 


4. North of Pratt, including Grand 


12,733 


8.8 


8.0 


8.8 


8.5 


Avenue 












5. North of Grand Avenue to North 












boundary 


9,881 


6.8 


5-6 


5-9 


5-7 


6. South of Leavenworth, including 












Center 


18,828 


12.9 


15-2 


14.6 


14.9 


7. South of Center, including Spring 












Street 


17,754 


12.2 


8.4 


8.6 


8.5 


8. South of Spring, including F Street 


10,378 


7*i 


2.3 


1-9 


2.0 


9. South of F to southern boundary 






1.6 


1.4 


i-5 


Total city population involved 


145,469 











Studies in Population 49 

percentages of total school enrollment in high school over a period 
of years and comparisons with other cities of similar size; the with- 
drawals and eliminations from the elementary grades and high 
school by city land sections; and the distribution of the high school 
population over a period of four or five years according to the sections 
of the city in which the students live. A tabulation of the last-named 
factor for the one year 1916-1917 for the city of Omaha is given in 
Table XXXII. There is indication that the two high schools of 
the table have drawn equally well from all sections of the city for 
their student body. The falling off in sections 7 and 8 necessitates 
an explanation from the school authorities, though part of the 
difference may be due to the proximity of the South High School, 
which is not included in the tabulation. 



PART II 
STUDIES INVOLVING THE SCHOOL PLANT 

THE MEASUREMENT OF THE BUILDING PLANT 
OF A SCHOOL SYSTEM 

Any program for school buildings covering a period of years pre- 
supposes a complete detailed analysis of the existing school plant. 
Such an analysis involves, among other matters, a study of the life 
and types of existing buildings, their adequacy as measured with a 
building score card, their accessibility expressed in terms of dis- 
tances travelled by the children attending, the present utilization 
and possible capacity of the buildings, and comparisons with the 
commonly accepted standards of school building construction. 

The Life of the Existing School Plant 

From studies made of the school plants of St. Paul, Minn., 
Omaha, Neb., and Paterson, N. J., Table XXXIII was constructed. 
Close inspection of this table brings to light certain clearly defined 
facts about these three school plants. The distribution is made 
after 1865 in five-year periods. In St. Paul the period of greatest 
activity in school construction seems to have been the decade 1885- 

1889, or, in a larger sense, 1 880-1 890. Seventy-five per cent of the 
elementary buildings found in St. Paul in 191 7 had their origin pre- 
vious to 1890. Eighty- five per cent were built previous to 1900, 
while forty-six per cent of additions were made previous to 1900. 
For comparison in building capacities the classroom is a desirable 
measure. Four hundred thirteen out of six hundred twenty-three 
classrooms, or sixty-six per cent of the elementary school housing 
in St. Paul, including additions, were constructed previous to 

1890. In Omaha, it will be noted from Table XXXIII, 310 of 733 
classrooms, or forty-two per cent, were built previous to 1900. 
In Paterson fully fifty per cent of the classrooms were constructed 
previous to 1900. These classrooms cannot be expected to meet 
the standards set up in modern classroom architecture. Wherein 
they lack greatly in meeting modern standards may be. readily 



Studies Involving the School Plant 



51 



pointed out through the use of such a scoring device as the Strayer 
Score Card for Measuring School Buildings. Too much stress 
cannot be placed upon the necessity for constantly bearing in mind 
the possibility of making old schoolrooms more habitable. Any 
school building program must necessarily include a program for 
modernization or rehabilitation of the older structures, in order that 

TABLE XXXIII 

Distribution of Elementary School Buildings According to Years 
of Original Erection and Years When Additions Were Made 

Additions for two cities expressed in number of rooms 





Number of buildings erected 


Number of buildings to which 
additions were made 


Years 


St. 
Paul 


Omaha 


Paterson 


St. 
Paul 


Omaha 


Paterson 




Build- 
ings 


Build- 
ings 


Rooms 


Build- 
ings 


Rooms 


Build- 
ings 


Build- 
ings 


Rooms 


Build- 
ings 


Rooms 


Previous 






















to 1865 


2 






I 


12 












I 865-1 869 






















1870-1874 


2 






3 


42 












1875-1879 


2 






1 


12 












1880-1884 


10 






2 


22 


6 










I 885-1 889 


24 


8 


82 


2 


22 


10 






I 


3 


I 890-1 894 


3 


14 


126 


4 


67 




2 


2 






I 895-1 899 


2 


9 


86 


4 


52 




4 


14 


I 


8 


1 900- I 904 


4 


5 


79 






6 


5 


H 


3 


34 


1905-1909 


1 


5 


57 


4 


74 


7 


10 


45 


1 


4 


1910-1914 


2 


6 


66 


2 


58 


4 


8 


48 


1 


22 


1915-1917 


1 


6 


66 


1 


4i 


2 


18 


48 


1 


14 



children occupying them may be provided with advantages that 
are commensurate with those provided in the newer buildings. 

Table XXXIII may well be supplemented with more detailed 
tables of the contrasts found in buildings erected in the early and 
later decades of the past fifty years. For instance, it seems quite 
obvious from this table that St. Paul's emphasis in educational 
matters had not been placed upon modern school construction dur- 
ing the past thirty years. During this same period there was added, 



52 A School Building Program for Cities 

however, approximately fifty per cent of the present population of 
the city. A definite program for the supplanting of old structures 
by modern buildings seems desirable in every city. Schoolhouses 
like other houses in which people live become antiquated and unin- 
habitable. There no doubt comes a time when their use is actually 
a hindrance to the intellectual and social progress of a community. 
Before this point is reached it would seem the duty of school author- 
ities to provide for their replacement. 

School Buildings Classified According to Size 
When school buildings are classified according to their size, as 
has been done for the school buildings of St. Paul and Paterson 
in Table XXXV, the school plant is again brought, as a whole, in 
review. Buildings with small numbers of rooms may be considered, 
as a rule, as lacking in equipment of special rooms, such as gymna- 
sium, manual training, domestic science, library, and the like. 
Such buildings have also invariably a minimum of supervision and 
a relatively high cost of maintenance, while they lack in opportu- 
nities for the social mingling of children. A merit to be found in a 
good building program is the selection of sites so centralized that 
buildings with a small number of rooms are eliminated except in the 
more recently developing sections of a city. 

A vital consideration when locating building sites is the reason- 
able maximum distance to be traversed by children going from home 
to school. Opinion will vary as to the distances that children of 
various ages may be required to walk. The unfortunate tendency 
in many cities has been to reduce the distances to an absurd mini- 
mum for the children. This has resulted in having eight, ten, and 
twelve-room buildings within three and four blocks of one another 
in many of our cities. Were one to draw circles about the small 
elementary schools of Omaha and St. Paul, using the schools as 
centers and a radius of three-eighths of a mile, the amount of over- 
lapping would be astonishing in both cases. No better example 
could be found of the lack of planning for additions to school build- 
ing plants. The distances that Superintendent Spaulding 21 set 
up in Minneapolis as standard distances that children might be ex- 
pected to cover in their daily trips to school have met with favor. 
These suggested standards are given below. 

21 A Million a Year, Board of Education, Minneapolis, Minn., 1916. 



Studies Involving the School Plant 

TABLE XXXIV 
Distances from Home to School 



53 





Maximum 


Desirable 


For children of kindergar- 


Not more than one mile 


Not more than three- 


ten and first six grades 




quarters of a mile 


For junior high school 


Not more than one and 


Not more than one mile 


children 


one-half miles 




For high school children 


Not more than two miles 


Not more than one and 
one-half miles 



If these standards are not too high in Minneapolis, where the 
winters are extremely severe, they should be readily accepted in 
the majority of our cities. It is quite possible that in warmer cli- 
mates a slight increase in the figures given would not seriously in- 
convenience many children. 

The classification of St. Paul's buildings shows forty-eight per 
cent of elementary buildings with eight classrooms or less, and 
sixty and two-thirds per cent with less than sixteen classrooms. 
Paterson's situation contrasts strikingly with no buildings of less 
than eight classrooms and with only thirty-three per cent of her 
buildings having sixteen classrooms or less. 

TABLE XXXV 

Sizes of Elementary Schools in Two Cities, St. Paul and Paterson, 

Arranged According to Number of Classrooms 





St. Paul 


Paterson 


Type of building 








Number 


Per cent 


Number 


Per cent 


1-4 rooms 


14 


23 






5- 7 rooms 


1 


2 






8-1 1 rooms 


18 


30 


2 


8 


12-15 rooms 


II 


18 


6 


25 


16-19 rooms 


14 


23 


5 


21 


20-23 rooms 


2 


3 


3 


13 


24-27 rooms 






3 


13 


28-31 rooms 






2 


8 


32-36 rooms 


I 


2 


2 


■ 8 


Above 36 rooms 






1 


4 


Total 


6l 




24 





54 A School Building Program for Cities 

The following facts will bear out the statement made regarding 
the lack of special rooms in small buildings. Superintendents in 
twenty-eight cities generously cooperated in listing the number of 
regular classrooms for each of their school buildings as well as the 
types of special rooms provided. Capacity of special rooms was 
also given so that it was possible to eliminate any special rooms with 
a capacity of fifteen or less. Of the two hundred and twenty-one 
elementary buildings being used in these twenty-eight cities, seven- 
teen per cent had sixteen or more regular classrooms. To this seven- 
teen per cent of buildings was allotted thirty-eight per cent of all 
manual training rooms for the entire two hundred and twenty-one 
buildings, forty-five per cent of all domestic science rooms, seventy- 
five per cent of all gymnasiums, fifty per cent of all auditoriums, 
seventy-five per cent of all study halls, fifty per cent of all lunch 
rooms, twenty-six per cent of all libraries, and fifteen per cent of all 
play-rooms. The distribution of these special rooms in the entire 
two hundred and twenty-one buildings according to the size of 
buildings is given in Table XXXVI. 

These same 221 buildings were distributed on the basis of the 
cost of janitorial service per pupil in average daily attendance 
in 191 7 and the cost of principals' service per pupil in average 
daily attendance in 191 7. The medians on each cost basis are 
given according to size of building in Table XXXVII. Because of 
the small number of buildings having more than twenty-eight 
rooms, the medians above that point were omitted. 

The tendency toward a very definite lowering of costs on these 
two items as the number of rooms increases emphasizes the need 
for school-building planning which will eliminate the small building. 

The Score Card Method of Measuring a School Plant 

In determining the adequacy of any school plant it seems nec- 
essary to study every detail of construction and equipment in the 
light of the standards which are commonly being accepted to-day 
in the construction of school buildings. For the facilitation of such 
comparisons, the Strayer School Building Score Card 22 has been 
found to be particularly effective. This score card is constructed 
on the same plan as those utilized during past years in the work of 

22 G. D. Strayer, Score Card for City School Buildings, Bureau of Publications, 
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City. 



Studies Involving the School Plant 



55 



TABLE XXXVI 



Ratio between Number of Regular Classrooms and Special Class- 
rooms 23 in 221 Elementary School Buildings 

Special Classrooms Provided 



School build- 
ings having 
regular class- 
rooms to the 
number of: 



I 

2 

3 
4 
5 
6 

7 
8 

9 
io 
ii 

12 

13 
14 
15 
16 

17 
18 

19 

20 
21 
22 

25 
26 

30 

Total 



Manual 
training 



I 
2 

3 
2 

3 
4 
8 
6 
2 

5 
2 

5 
2 
6 

4 
6 
1 

2 

3 : 

2 

1 

2 

1 

7J 



Domes- 
tic 
Science 



38 



Gym- 
na- 
sium 



Audi- 
torium 



2 2 

3 

3 
1 

3 

2 
1 
3 

3 
1 
2 
1 
2 
4 
3 
1 
1 
1 

38 



Play- 
room 



Study 
hall 



Lunch- 
room 



Lib- 
rary 



19 



Number 
of school 
build- 
ings 



15 
7 

11 

24 
6 
7 
4 

22 

13 
20 

9 
20 
10 
10 

6 



23 A room is considered to be a regular classroom when it is the home room for a 
group of pupils under a regular full-time teacher. Kindergarten rooms, first grade 
rooms, and second grade rooms are examples of regular classrooms. 

24 Also used as auditorium. 

25 Combined with playroom. 

26 Shops. 



56 



A School Building Program for Cities 



agricultural colleges. The decided advantage that follows from the 
use of the score card, on which are included nearly all the details 
that go to make up a perfect building, is that all such details are 
given separate consideration. 

In utilizing the score card each of the eighty-eight main divisions 
of the score card is given separate consideration and a proportional 
allowance of the full possible score for that division. When the 
ratings of a number of school buildings, either in the same locality 
or in different communities are compared, the fact that the score 
card listings have necessitated that the same relative weight be 
given to similar items of construction or equipment in each build- 
ing insures a degree of fairness and accuracy not obtainable under 
any other method now employed in judging school buildings. 

The score card is accompanied with a set of detailed standards 
for each of the eighty-eight subdivisions, in the light of which the 
score for each item is obtained. A school building which meets all 
the standards set up in the score card is rated at 1,000 points. The 
score card has been utilized in the following school surveys : Nassau 
County, N. Y. ; Framingham, Mass.; St. Paul, Minn.; Omaha, 
Neb.; Pelham, N. Y.; Great Neck, N. Y.; Paterson, N. J.; Bing- 
hamton, N. Y. ; 27 and Utica, N. Y. In these intensive studies school 

TABLE XXXVII 

Costs of Janitorial Service and Principals' Service in 220 Schools 
of 28 Cities on the Basis of Child in Average Daily Attendance 







Median cost of jani- 


Median cost of prin- 


Buildings 


Number of 


torial service per 


cipals' salary per 


having 


cases 


child in average 


child in average 






daily attendance 


daily attendance 


1- 4 rooms 


57 


$2,562 


$8.50 


5- 8 rooms 


39 


3.000 


5.06 


9-12 rooms 


62 


2.464 


3-75 


13-16 rooms 


34 


2.107 


3-05 


17-20 rooms 


17 


2. 131 


2.94 


21-24 rooms 


8 


1-675 


2.40 


25-28 rooms 28 


3 


2.125 


2.77 



27 Surveys of Binghamton and Utica made by the State Education Department, 
Albany, N. Y. 

28 Too few cases at this level. 



Studies Involving the School Plant 57 

buildings were found which rated as low as 274 points and as high 
as 927 points on the score card. Experience resulting from these 
applications of the score card, involving approximately 225 build- 
ings, suggests that a score of 900-1,000 indicates a highly satisfac- 
tory degree of construction and equipment. In fact, in only a few 
minor respects does such a building deviate from acceptable 
standards. A rating between 700 and 900 points is fairly satisfac- 
tory. It should be studied in the light of its component parts. 
Slight building alterations, the need for which will be indicated by 
the low percentages of the possible maximal allowances on various 
of the eighty-eight subdivisions, will tend to raise considerably 
the score of a building of this group. A score of 600 to 700 points 
has meant, as experience in these surveys points out, that con- 
siderable alteration was needed before buildings could be brought 
to a satisfactory standard of efficiency. Buildings that have scored 
500 to 600 points have proved to be highly unsatisfactory and yet 
not so far gone but that extensive repairs and replacements could 
make them reasonably habitable. When the scores of buildings 
have fallen below 500 points, it has been the universal judgment 
of those who have applied the score card that speedy abandonment 
of the building for school purposes was the only justifiable course 
to be followed. In all instances where scores of 500 or less have 
resulted, it has seemed that expenditures for repairs would be 
highly excessive. It has also seemed that there was little possi- 
bility, even with the expenditure of relatively large sums of money, 
to secure as a result of such repairs a building which was suitable 
for school purposes in the modern sense. 

The scores that have been allotted in certain of the surveys men- 
tioned are tabulated in Table XXXVIII. These scores may give 
a conception of the adequacy of school buildings as found in various 
types of cities. 

An indication of the ease with which one may discover the points 
of defect in buildings which have been gauged with the score card 
may be seen by studying the final scores allotted to school buildings 
in Omaha in June 1917. These scores are given in Table XXXIX. 
The first eleven from an alphabetical list of the Omaha schools are 
included here. The maximum number of points possible for each 
of the five main divisions and the twenty-two major subdivisions 
of the score card is given in the first column. The scores as given 



58 A School Building Program for Cities 

TABLE XXXVIII 

Scores Allotted to School Buildings in Five Surveys by 
Judges Using the Strayer Score Card 

Elementary Schools 





Nassau 
County 


Framingham 


St. Paul 


Omaha 


Paterson 


300 or below 












301-500 


I 


2 


9 


16 


12 


501-600 


I 


14 


23 


17 


6 


601-700 


7 


I 


13 


10 




701-800 


12 


I 


3 


8 


3 


801-900 


13 


I 




1 


3 


901-1,000 


5 




I 

l 




I 


Total 


39 


19 


49 


52 


25 



High Schools 



300 or below 








1 




301-500 












501-600 


1 






2 




601-700 


1 






1 




701-800 


5 


1 


1 




I 


801-900 


7 




3 






901-1,000 


1 










Total 


15 


1 


4 


4 


I , 



by the judges for each of the items are listed under the names of 
the various schools. An inspection of the scores points out Cass 
and Clifton Hill as being particularly deficient in the item 'Site'; 
Belvidere and Clifton Hill as being judged as poor examples of 
housing from the standpoint of 'Internal and Gross Structure', 
while the Central Park and the Castelar are ranked as best of the 
list; that the service systems of five of the ten buildings rank par- 
ticularly low; and that the classrooms of three buildings are rated 
high while seven buildings stand out as clearly lacking in special 
room facilities. 



Studies Involving the School Plant 



59 



It must be understood that the final score as allotted on each 
subdivision in the table below is the composite of individual ratings 
by different judges. This composition of the ratings of a number 



TABLE XXXIX 
Final Scores on Eleven Omaha School Buildings 



Names of buildings 
score card items 


1 « 
1 8 




<o 

"a 




O 
O 

cq 


to 
O 


a 


"a 
a 

Si 


•v. 
a 
Ah 

"a 

v. 

8 


8 
O 

s 


8 

_a 

§ 


to 

,s 

8 

§ 






I Site 


125 


112 


93 


117 


83 


68 


108 


95 


103 


68 


70 


83 


A. Location 


55 


45 


35 


50 


40 


30 


50 


50 


45 


45 


40 


45 


B. Drainage 


30 


27 


28 


27 


28 


28 


28 


25 


28 


13 


25 


23 


C. Size and form 


40 


40 


30 


40 


IS 


10 


30 


20 


30 


10 


5 


15 


II Building 


165 


144 


119 


68 


96 


105 


149 


120 


151 


49 


94 


96 


A. Placement 


25 


25 


22 


10 


20 


15 


22 


22 


22 


17 


15 


18 


B. Gross structure' 


60 


59 


4i 


21 


38 


46 


59 


43 


59 


18 


36 


36 


C. Internal structure 


80 


60 


56 


37 


38 


44 


68 


55 


70 


14 


43 


42 


III Service systems 


280 


159 


153 


81 


104 


106 


179 


94 


190 


54 


147 


103 


A. Heating and ventilation 


70 


53 


47 


11 


18 


3i 


52 


26 


55 


16 


53 


21 


B. Fire protection 


65 


17 


20 


22 


15 


15 


53 


8 


54 


1 


29 


7 


C. Cleaning system 


20 


11 


12 


7 


12 


12 


9 


9 


13 


9 


12 


12 


D. Artificial lighting 


20 


9 


10 


5 


7 


4 


9 


8 


11 


4 


9 


12 


E. Electric service 


15 


13 


13 


7 


12 


7 


8 


14 


13 


8 


8 


13 


F. Water supply 


30 


6 


6 


5 


10 


6 


7 


4 


7 


4 


8 


8 


G. Toilet facilities 


50 


43 


39 


14 


23 


24 


34 


18 


30 


5 


21 


23 


H Mechanical service 


10 


7 


7 


10 


7 


7 


7 


7 


7 


7 


7 


7 


IV Classrooms 


290 


250 


235 


133 


172 


216 


235 


200 


253 


138 


210 


225 


A. Location and connections 


35 


35 


30 


10 


15 


35 


35 


25 


35 


5 


20 


35 


B. Construction and finish 


95 


80 


75 


53 


63 


68 


85 


58 


85 


47 


72 


67 


C. Illumination 


85 


65 


78 


42 


55 


68 


65 


68 


73 


52 


68 


7i 


D. Cloakrooms and wardrobes 


25 


20 


18 


3 


8 


15 


15 


15 


22 


10 


18 


20 


E. Equipment 


50 


50 


34 


25 


3i 


30 


35 


34 


38 


24 


32 


32 


V Special rooms 


140 


105 


53 


37 


29 


39 


80 


47 


86 


25 


50 


46 


A. Special rooms for general use 


65 


50 


21 


17 


7 


7 


30 


5 


35 


5 


8 


5 


B. Rooms for school officials 


35 


25 


10 


5 




6 


20 


12 


21 




12 


15 


C. Other special service rooms 


40 


30 


22 


15 


22 


26 


30 


30 


30 


20 


30 


26 


Total 


1,000 


770 


653 


436 


484 


534 


751 


556 


783 


334 


571 


553 



60 A School Building Program for Cities 

of judges on each subdivision eliminates a single erratic score on any 
item. This method of scoring is an acknowledgment of the fact 
that the final rating cannot be considered as an absolute ranking, 
but that it merely tends to locate buildings within certain groups, 
i. e., to locate buildings in the 900-1,000 group, the 800-900 group, 
etc. The detailed method for securing the final score on buildings 
may be illustrated from Table XL, which gives the scores on each 
of two buildings as reckoned by five different judges. As a rule, 
three scores on each building will suffice for the final composite. 
In judging the Paterson, N. J., buildings in March, 1918, five judges 
scored each building. Each judge made his entire ratings without 
collusion with other judges. A high coefficient of correlation, 
+ .98 by the Pearson method, was found between the ratings of the 
buildings based on the composite scores as obtained from the first 
three scorings made for each building and the ratings based on the 
composite scores from the entire five scorings. 

The agreement in the scores given by the five judges of Table XL 
is quite remarkable when it is borne in mind that each total and 
each sub-item represents the unbiased score of one individual. 
The final medians on the main items I, II, III, IV, and V are used 
to produce the final score on each building. The final median on 
any main item is the total of the medians on each literal sub-item. 
Thus erratic scores are eliminated. 

Five judges, 'Hm', 'T', 'B', 'E', and 'Ha', rated each of these 
buildings. The individual ratings given by the judges on Building 
No. 1 were 436, 445, 443, 438, and 448. The composite and final 
rating was 437. In a similar manner, the five individual ratings 
that were recorded on Building No. 2 were 738, 735, 753, 728, 741, 
while the composite or final score was 744. 

As Dr. Strayer points out in the score card : 

It will be found particularly worth while to score old buildings, in order to 
call attention to the necesssity for reconstruction which is always to be found 
in a city in which buildings have been in use over a considerable number of 
years. As one studies the problem of school buildings in the United States, 
he is impressed by the accidental or occasional repair or reconstruction which 
is provided. A careful study and scoring of buildings will often indicate 
common deficiencies of very great importance which should receive immedi- 
ate attention, and others which are of relatively less significance which may 



Studies Involving the School Plant 



61 



be postponed for a time. In the same school system it may be found as well 
that one building is so remarkably more deficient than another that it is 
manifestly good public policy to spend whatever money is available in recon- 

TABLE XL 
Scores on Two Paterson School Buildings as Rated by Five Different 

Judges 



Scorer's 
Initial 


Hm 


T 


B 


E 


Ha 


Median 


Hm 


T 


B 


E 


Ha 


Median 


Item I 


72 


70 


70 


60 


68 




115 


107 


112 


no 


100 




A 


40 


35 


35 


30 


33 


35 


50 


47 


47 


48 


45 


47 


B 


27 


25 


30 


25 


30 


27 


30 


30 


30 


30 


30 


30 


C 


5 


10 


5 


5 


5 


5 
67 


35 


30 


35 


32 


25 


32 
iog 


Item II 


95 


90 


93 


85 


90 




150 


142 


152 


143 


153 




A 


20 


14 


15 


17 


21 


17 


22 


20 


22 


20 


22 


22 


B 


35 


38 


35 


30 


38 


35 


58 


5i 


56 


53 


57 


56 


C 


40 


38 


43 


38 


3i 


38 
90 


70 


7i 


74 


70 


74 


7i 
149 


Item III 


86 


82 


83 


93 


66 




165 


174 


168 


175 


191 




A 


17 


15 


14 


34 


21 


17 


44 


52 


47 


5i 


55 


5i 


B 


16 


15 


20 


13 


8 


15 


32 


29 


42 


45 


55 


42 


C 


13 


13 


11 


8 


12 


12 


17 


17 


14 


12 


15 


15 


D 


4 


6 


10 


6 


5 


6 


15 


15 


16 


15 


12 


15 


E 


6 


5 


6 


5 


4 


5 


10 


11 


5 


11 


12 


11 


F 


3 


7 


3 


7 


4 


4 


11 


10 


8 


8 


10 


10 


G 


22 


16 


19 


20 


12 


19 


3i 


40 


36 


26 


29 


3i 


H 


5 


5 








78 


5 






7 


3 


3 

178 


Item IV 


137 


155 


162 


165 


162 




269 


268 


277 


254 


251 




A 


25 


20 


24 


25 


25 


25 


35 


35 


35 


35 


35 


35 


B 


48 


55 


54 


53 


54 


54 


86 


83 


9i 


80 


81 


83 


C 


30 


40 


50 


5i 


57 


5i 


75 


78 


78 


70 


65 


75 


D 


5 


5 




15 




5 


25 


25 


25 


25 


25 


25 


E 


29 


35 


34 


21 


26 


29 

1 64 


48 


47 


48 


44 


45 


47 
265 


Item V 


46 


48 


35 


35 


62 




39 


44 


44 


46 


46 




A 


16 


27 


13 


14 


24 


16 


14 


15 


28 


15 


10 


15 


B 


10 


16 


10 


9 


10 


10 


' 18 


24 


21 


16 


23 


21 


C 


20 


5 


12 


12 


28 


12 

38 


7 


5 


5 


15 


13 


7 
43 


Totals 


436 


445 


443 


438 


448 


437 


738 


735 


753 


728 


741 


744 



Final score for first building, 437. 
Final score for second building, 744. 



62 



A School Building Program for Cities 



structing the building which scores lowest before undertaking the work which 
may not be anything like so important in other buildings. 

In the case of scoring school buildings, as with any other instrument of 
measurement, the result should suggest problems, and in some measure indi- 
cate the direction in which reforms are to be brought about. Any person 
using the score card should supplement the mere scoring of the several items 
with a report upon any notable deficiency which renders the building unfit 
for use. It is entirely conceivable that a building on most counts might stand 
high, but in some one particular, say, with respect to fire protection or sani- 
tation, might rate extremely low. In this case, the notation after the build- 
ing was scored would call attention to the fact that measures should be taken 
immediately to remedy particular defects, in which case the building would, 
possibly with a minimum of expense, be brought up to a very high standard 
of excellency. 

Having secured the ratings for each school building in the manner 
indicated in the last table, it is possible that definite conclusions may 
be drawn from them for the purpose of providing this comprehensive 

TABLE XLI 

General View of Deficiencies Pointed Out in Four School Systems 
on Nine Important Items of the Strayer Score Card 



Range of percen- 
tages of the maxi- 


0-25 per cent 


26- 


SO per cent 


5i- 


75 per cent 


65- 


too per cent 


mum scores 
possible 


S. P. 


0. 


F. 


P. 


S. P. 


0. 


F. 


P. 


S. P. 


0. 


F. 


P. 


S. P. 


0. 


F. 


P. 


Gross structure 


I 29 


2 


1 




7 


9 


3 


9 


30 


20 


2 


13 


IS 


21 


4 


10 


Internal struc- 


































ture 


1 


6 


1 


3 


IS 


12 


5 


7 


26 


25 


1 


7 


11 


9 


3 


9 


Heating and 


































ventilating 


3 


8 




5 


36 


24 


1 


13 


11 


8 


3 


4 


3 


12 


6 


4 


Fire protection 


29 


36 


7 


17 


16 


10 


3 


4 


4 


3 




4 


4 


3 




1 


Cleaning system 




1 




9 


9 


16 


2 


7 


29 


34 


6 


13 


15 


1 


2 


5 


Artificial lighting 


28 


17 


S 


12 


16 


22 


1 


6 


8 


13 


3 


4 


1 




1 


4 


Water supply 


24 


28 




13 


22 


28 




10 


4 


2 




1 


3 


1 


10 


2 


Toilet facilities 


1 


4 




5 


7 


20 


5 


12 


29 


19 


2 


4 


16 


9 


3 


5 


Large rooms for 


































general use 


5 


41 


8 


14 


41 


8 




6 


7 


2 


1 


6 




1 


1 





Number of buildings — Omaha, 52; St. Paul, 53, Framingham, 10; Paterson, 26. 

5. P.— St. Paul, Minn. 

O. — Omaha, Nebr. 

F. — Framingham, Mass. 

P. — Paterson, N. J. 

29 Read: One building in St. Paul was allotted by the judges a score on gross struc- 
ture which fell within the range 0-25 per cent of the maximum possible score on this 
item, etc. 



" Studies Involving the School Plant 63 

bird's-eye view of the good qualities and faults of the entire school 
plant. Table XLI illustrates the tabulation that may be necessary 
for this purpose. The first step necessary in making this tabulation 
is the reduction to percentages of the maximum possible scores of 
each item of the score allowed by the judges. The percentages are 
then distributed under the ranges 0-25 per cent of efficiency, 26-50 
per cent of efficiency, 51-75 per cent of efficiency, and 76-100 per 
cent of efficiency. Table XLI carries such a percentile distribution 
for four school systems and nine important items from the score 
card. The number of buildings found to fall under the various per- 
centile ranges is given under the name of each of the four cities. 

Table XLI I repeats the preceding table except that the number of 
buildings under each percentile range has been expressed in terms of 
percentages of the total number of buildings studied in each system. 
This affords a better comparison between the systems included 
in the table. 

Little difficulty is found in picking out from Tables XLI and 
XLI I certain points of great deficiency in the school plants that 
have been measured. The items 'fire protection', 'artificial lighting', 
and 'water supply' seem to have fallen far below the standards set 
up in the score card. All four school plants are apparently almost 
entirely lacking in such large rooms as gymnasiums, auditoriums, 
playrooms, libraries, and the like, which are very essential for the 
development of the social nature of the child. It is clear that from 
a very careful inspection of a table of this sort, school authorities 
may readily pick out the deficiencies in their school plants which 
need stressing when the question of repairs and replacements arises. 
It would seem that the tendency of such a table would be to permit 
of equal consideration to all phases of the building needs and to pre- 
vent such ill-advised and unbalanced expenditures as might and do 
occur when no systematic plan of rehabilitation of school buildings 
is followed. 

From a table giving the rankings of school buildings similar to 
those of Table XLI II, it is also possible to offset the influences of 
sectional politics when the razing of old buildings and the erection 
of new structures are matters of consideration. Table XLIII 
lists the school buildings of four cities by the final ratings given them 
on the Strayer Score Card according to the method described above. 
When replacements are being made it is quite obvious that the build- 



6 4 



A School Building Program for Cities 



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Studies Involving the School Plant 65 

ings ranking low according to this impartial method of selection 
are those which should first be supplanted. The procedure recom- 
mended in the cases of St. Paul and Omaha was approximately the 
rapid abandonment and replacement of the buildings below 500, 
beginning with the lowest ratings; the adoption of a definite pro- 
gram of modernization for the 601-900 buildings, which might be 
expected to make all these buildings conform with reasonable degree 
to the standards set up; provision for the more vital needs in the 
501-600 class without the definite hope of ever making these build- 
ings completely satisfactory but with the aim of having them at 
least conform to the standards which involved the questions of 
safety, sanitation, and health. 

Supplementing the Score Card 

In studying a school plant in order to supplement the scoring done 
by means of the Strayer Score Card, detailed studies of the entire 
situation in respect to playgrounds, building economy, classroom 
lighting, special room equipment, lavatory facilities, fire protection 
equipment, and the like, should be made. These studies may in- 
volve comparisons with situations as found to exist in other cities, 
as well as contrasts with the more commonly accepted standards. 

The School Playgrounds 

Measurement of the playgrounds provided by a school system in 
terms of the percentages of schools and school children provided 
with the various allotments of playground area per child has been 
a form frequently used in surveys. The enrollment of children in 
the schools is frequently taken as one of the factors in this compu- 
tation. Where the future building program is being considered, it 
seems that the pupil capacity of buildings is a more equitable basis 
than enrollment, except in such cases where the enrollment is found 
to exceed what should be considered to be the capacity of the plant. 
It is reasonable to expect that any changes that are to be made in 
playgrounds after the assembling of data should be considered from 
the viewpoint of the total number of children who might be expected 
at any time or other to attend the schools in question. 

Table XLIV shows the situation as it has been found to exist in 
six cities on the basis of children enrolled at the time the studies 
were made. 



66 



A School Building Program for Cities 



TABLE XLIII: The School Buildings of Four Cities Arranged According 
to Ratings Allotted Them on the Strayer Score Card 





St. Paul 


Omaha 


Framingham 


Paterson 


I 


Lafayette 


313 


H. S. of Commerce 


274 


Lincoln Grammar 


390 


No. 2 


318 


2 


Jefferson 


358 


Central Benson 


308 


Lincoln Primary 


485 


No. 25 


319 


3 


Monroe 


404 


Druid Hill 


313 


Washington Street 


503 


No. 6 


376 


4 


Adams 


409 


Park 


334 


Apple Street 


503 


No. 7 


376 


S 


Jackson 


427 


Clifton Hill 


334 


Saxonville Grammar 


594 


No. 11 


39i 


6 


Franklin 


452 


Dupont 


343 


Hollis 


600 


No. 8 


425 


7 


Webster 


491 


Kellom 


408 


Franklin 


605 


No. 1 


437 


8 


Rice 


500 


Train 


412 


Lawrence 


703 


No. 13 


444 


9 


Crowley 


500 


Sherman 


413 


High school 


764 


No. 4 


450 


10 


Lincoln 


5ii 


Fort 


422 


Maynard 


876 


No. 16 


470 


ii 


Hendricks 


5i6 


Florence 


425 






No. 5 


477 


12 


Irving 


521 


Belvidere 


436 






No. 15 


497 


13 


Murray 


524 


Old Long 


439 






No. 18 


519 


14 


Cleveland 


53P 


Walnut Hill 


454 






No. 19 


528 


IS 


Edison 


531 


Saratoga 


470 






No. 14 


548 


16 


McClellan 


535 


Brown Park 


484 






No. 17 


552 


17 


Maxfield 


538 


Farnam 


495 






No. 20 


589 


18 


Neill 


538 


Mason 


505 






No. 3 


591 


19 


Hancock 


541 


Lowell 


514 






No. 9 


703 


20 


Drew 


543 


Lake 


515 






No. 23 


744 


21 


Sibley 


549 


Cass 


534 






No. 26 H. S. 


763 


22 


Gorman 


550 


Pacific 


537 






No. 12 


775 


23 


Ericsson 


558 


Monmouth Park 


539 






No. 22 


820 


24 


Madison 


563 


Corrigan 


552 






No. 24 


829 


25 


Van Buren 


S69 


Comenius 


553 






No. 21 


847 


26 


Hawthorne 


573 


Lincoln 


556 






No. 10 


919 


27 


Garfield 


576 


Central 


556 










28 


Douglas 


580 


Webster 


558 










29 


Davis 


582 


South Lincoln 


559 










30 


Scheffer 


S82 


West Side 


56l 










31 


Longfellow 


586 


New Long 


56l 










32 


Washington 


587 


Benson High 


565 










33 


Harrison 


607 


Columbian 


571 










34 


Deane 


608 


Madison 


586 










35 


Smith 


613 


Highland 


587 










36 


Whittier 


613 


South High 


597 










37 


Sheridan 


615 


Windsor 


601 










38 


Grant 


617 


Saunders 


615 










39 


Ramsey 


627 


Franklin 


618 










40 


Tilden 


627 


Hawthorne 


619 










41 


Baker 


643 


Central High 


621 










42 


Hill 


661 


Garfield 


628 










43 


Gal tier 


681 


Lothrop 


646 










44 


Phalen Park 


687 


Rosehill 


648 










45 


McKinley 


700 


Beals 


653 










46 


Mound Park 


710 


Jungman 


655 










47 


Gordon 


712 


South Central 


672 










48 


Ames 


792 


Miller Park 


730 










49 


Mech. Arts. H.S. 793 


South Franklin 


739 










50 


Humboldt H.S 


. 80S 


Vinton 


743 










5i 


Central H.S. 


809 


Castelar 


751 










52 


Johnson H.S. 


811 


Bancroft 


770 










53 


Finch 


927 


Central Park 


783 










54 






Kennedy 


787 










55 






Rosewater 


796 










56 






Dundee 


817 











Studies Involving the School Plant 

TABLE XLIV 
The Playgrounds of Six Cities 



67 



Percentages of school 
children enrolled 
who were allotted 


30 sq. ft. 
or less 


30-100 
sq. ft. 


100 sq. ft. 
or less 


100-200 
sq. ft. 


200 sq. ft. 
or over 


St. Paul, February, 191 7 31 


29.1 


56.1 


85.2 


9.9 


4.9 


Denver, 1916 32 






82.0 


12-5 


5-5 


Salt Lake City, June, 19 15 33 






37-o 


32.0 


31-0 


Milwaukee, March, 1916 34 


39-3 


49-7 


89.0 


9-5 


1-5 


Omaha, June, 191 7 35 


9.0 


49.0 


58.0 


32.0 


11. 


Paterson, March, 1918 36 


78.8 


21.2 


100. 









Lowest number of 


Median number of 


Highest number of 


Playgrounds 37 


square feet 


square feet 


square feel 


showing 


■per child 


■per child 


per child 


St. Paul 


4 sq. ft. 


60 sq. ft. 


1,889 sq. ft. 


Denver 


40 sq. ft. 


130 sq. ft. 


1,037 sq.ft. 


Salt Lake City 


4.1 sq. ft. 


62 sq. ft. 


2,560 sq. ft. 


Omaha 


23 sq. ft. 


97.3 sq. ft. 


964 sq. ft. 


Milwaukee 


8 sq. ft. 


38.9 sq. ft. 


598 sq. ft. 


Paterson 


.4 sq. ft. 


15.2 sq. ft. 


49.4 sq. ft. 



The following quotations from recent school surveys will indicate 
the disregard for any standard in providing adequate playgrounds 
in some of our larger cities. 

Considering the fact that Denver has grown to its present size mainly 
within the last three or four decades, it is astonishing to find such a large pro- 
portion of cramped school grounds. In a very old city one expects to find 
schools without adequate playgrounds. That thousands of school children 
in Denver should be deprived of room for wholesome recreation can only 

31 St. Paul Survey, Commissioner of Education, St. Paul, Minn. 
82 Denver Survey, Board of Education, Denver, Colo. 

33 School Organization and Administration, World Book Co., Yonkers, N. Y. 

34 Milwaukee Building Survey, Board of Education, Milwaukee, Wis. 

35 Omaha Building Survey, Omaha, Neb. (not published). 

36 Paterson Survey, Paterson, N. J. (in press). 

37 Dates as above. 



68 A School Building Program for Cities 

be explained by the short-sighted policy of her earlier school boards. — Denver 
Survey. 

Nowhere else in the school system is forethought more important than in 
the selection of well-located and ample sites, in anticipation of future needs. 
Blessings or tragedy hang upon the choice. Some of the cramped sites listed 
above could not now be enlarged except at prohibitive cost. In the case of 
others, additions are still feasible and ought to be made at the earliest possible 
moment. — Salt Lake City Survey. 

The problems involved are much more difficult than appears at first 
thought. Cleveland has shown wise generosity in purchasing large plots of 
ground for schools even where land is very expensive. Nevertheless, the area 
is never large enough to provide all the playground space that could be de- 
sired and at the same time ample space for landscape gardening. The prob- 
lems have been met by setting aside most of the space for the children's use 
and providing a suitable surfacing for the playgrounds. — Cleveland Survey. 

It is unfortunate that the school sites which have heretofore been pur- 
chased have been so small. — Butte Survey. 

The school lots for nearly all the school buildings in the city are too small. 
This deficiency is partly due to the fact that the regulation block of Port- 
land is much smaller than that in most cities, and, instead of insisting on two 
or four blocks and condemning the inclosed streets, the Board of School 
Directors has in the past been compelled, either from lack of money or lack 
of the support of public opinion, or both, to depend often on a single block, 
sometimes less, for school lots. — Portland Survey. 

Apparently the failure to provide adequate playgrounds seems 
to have been a common oversight on the part of those who have 
been entrusted with the purchase of school sites. Part of this 
failure may be due to the great diversity in opinion regarding what 
the minimum allowance in square feet per child should actually be. 
It is recognized that schools administered on a work-study-play 
program, which provides for a constant use of the playground, need 
smaller allowances per child of enrollment, as only a proportion of 
the children are required to be on the playground at one time. 

The following are minimum allowances that have been set up by 
students of the playground problem, or that have been accepted by 
local authorities as desirable for their communities. 

Terman: Denver Survey ioo square feet for child enrolled. 

Jones: Rockford, 1915-1916 Report . . . 100 square feet per capita. 
Terman: Salt Lake City Survey 200 square feet for each child in 

cities no more crowded than Salt 

Lake City. 



Studies Involving the School Plant 69 

Strayer: Building Score Card ioo square feet per child' of possible 

enrollment. 

Strayer: Building Score Card 5-12 acres for high school and junior 

high school. 

Strayer: Score Card for Rural School Plant 3 acres. 

Ayres: Cleveland Survey 35 to 50 square feet for each child 

is a fair allowance. 50-60 good, 
65 and above very good. 

Spaulding: Minneapolis, A Million a Year . 40-50 square feet per pupil of build- 
ing capacity. 40 pupils to the 
room is fair, 50-100 is good. 

Strayer, Engelhardt, and Hart: Omaha 100 square feet per child of maxi- 

Survey mum enrollment. 

Cubberley: Portland Survey 51 square feet free space per pupil 

insufficient. 40,000 square feet (a 
typical Portland city block) too 
meagre for ordinary city school 
lot. 

Harbach and Hart: Milwaukee 10-year 30 square feet insufficient but a min- 

building program imum sought for 20 schools which 

were below this amount in March, 
1916. 

Bobbitt: Grand Rapids Survey 100 square feet per child in average 

daily attendance. 

Schoolhouse Department, Report, 1913- 

1914, Boston Approximately 30 square feet per 

child. 

Department of Education, Minnesota ... 50 square feet per pupil as a mini- 
mum, 100 square feet desirable 
(presumably of capacity enroll- 
ment). 

Curtis: Reorganized School Playground, 
United States Bureau of Education, 
Bulletin No. 40, 1913 10 acres for a city high school. 

Curtis: Reorganized School Playground, 
United States Bureau of Education, 

Bulletin No. 40, 1913 Each school should have one block 

of ground in most cities. (Two 
acre blocks insufficient). 

Toronto Playground Association An acre for each 150 children as a 

minimum for effective play. 

Mr. Rowland Haynes, in making a recreation survey of Milwau- 
kee, decided that 300 was the number of children who could play 
to advantage on an acre. Thirty square feet per child, the minimum 
set down by the English Board of Education, allows only room 



70 A School Building Program for Cities 

enough for children to stand and swing their arms about, but pupils 
are taken to large playing fields for athletic games needing more 
space. Mr. Haynes found that 120 children per acre can play basket- 
ball, and that 200 per acre can play indoor baseball. Averaging 
these as typical active games requiring a small amount of space, 
and filling in the chinks with ring games which occupy less space, 
the figure of 300 children per acre was reached. It was felt, however, 
that even this figure of 300 per acre was a high saturation point 
for play space. With more than that figure some of the children 
must stand around, crowded out of a chance to join in the fun. 

In Mind and Body of January, 1915, Mr. William A. Stecher 
outlined the space needed for school games and the areas desirable 
for various types of schools as indicated below: 

1. Ring games (Cat and Mouse type). Circle 20 feet — for 30-40 players. 

Square needed 25 x 25-625 feet; 18 square feet per player. 

2. Tag-games. Field needed 35 x 40 feet — for 30-40 players. 1,400 square 

feet; 40 square feet per player. 

3. Play-apparatus, like Giant Strides, Swings, Ladders, Bars, etc., employ 

15-20 players. These need about 700 square feet; 40 square feet per 
player. 

4. Dodge-ball. Circle 40 feet for 30-40 players. Square needed 45 x 45- 

2,000 square feet; 50 square feet- per player. 

5. Volley-ball. Court 25 x 50 feet for 20 players. Oblong needed 30 x 55- 

1,650 square feet; 80 square feet per player. 

6. Captain ball. Court 30 x 60 feet for 20 players. Oblong space needed 

35 x 65 feet-2,275 square feet; 113 square feet per player. 

7. Playground-ball. Court 60 x 70 feet for 20 players. Oblong needed 

65 x 75-4,900 square feet; 245 square feet per player. 

8. Basketball. Court 40 x 70 feet for 10 players. Oblong needed 55 x 75- 

4,000 square feet; 400 square feet per player. 

9. Football. Field 160x330 feet for 22 players. 52,800 square feet; 

2,400 square feet per player. 
10. Baseball. Field 250x250 feet for 18 players. 62,500 square feet; 
3,472 square feet per player. 

1. A recess in a primary school that brings 8 rooms of 45 pupils into the 
yard (360 pupils). 

Two-thirds of the children play, one-third stand or simply move about; 
that is, 240 are active players and 120 are non-players. 

Of the players one-third play ring-games, one-third tag-games, and one- 
third ball games of the dodge-ball type. The play space needed for these 



Studies Involving the School Plant 71 

three types of activity would average 36 square feet per player. This would 
mean 8,640 square feet for 240 players. 

For the non-players a space 3x3 feet — 9 square feet would be needed. 
This would mean an additional 1,080 square feet. 

Total minimum unobstructed play space for 360 pupils would be 9,720 
square feet; say, 27 square feet per primary pupil. 

The space, therefore, for a primary school of 360 pupils should be no less 
than 100 x 100 feet. If such play-space were to be used by older children 
or by more children during the summer time, the area would be insufficient. 

2. A recess in a grammar school that brings 8 rooms of 40 pupils into the 
yard (320 pupils). 

It would be assumed that as in the primary grades two-thirds play and 
the rest walk or stand about. 

If one-fourth of the players play tag-games, one-fourth use some of the 
apparatus located in the yards, one-fourth play ball games like dodge-ball, 
and one-fourth play ball games like volley-ball, these four types of activity 
would average $2}4 square feet per player. If basketball were one of the 
games, the space needed would be at least 100 square feet per player. This 
would mean 214 grammar pupils need 11,235 square feet of play space. For 
the non-players a space of 3 x 5-15 square feet would make an additional 
1,590 square feet, giving a total of 12,825 square feet — 40 square feet per 
grammar pupil. 

The unobstructed play space for a school bringing 320 grammar pupils 
into the yard to play should be no less than 100 x 130 feet. If games like 
basketball, or modified forms of play-ground ball are to be played by part 
of the pupils, the area should be at least 100 x 350 feet for each 320 pupils, 
that is, no square feet per grammar pupil. 

Keeping in mind the foregoing standards which have been found 
acceptable to students of the playground problem, it does not seem 
unreasonable to ask boards of education to adopt a policy of gradu- 
ally increasing the allotments of playground area per child of maxi- 
mum building capacity in elementary schools until no school has 
less than fifty square feet per child, with the ultimate aim of pro- 
viding one hundred square feet per child. Coupled with this pro- 
gram should be a policy of purchasing sufficiently adequate and 
properly located sites in newly developing sections of the city be- 
fore the price of land has become excessive. 

It is recognized that in many of our cities where the density of 
population is relatively small, there will be comparatively little 
difficulty in securing sufficient land to meet the minimal standards 



72 A School Building Program for Cities 

designated above. In cities with comparatively small areas and 
relatively large density of population, the problem of meeting the 
suggested standards becomes more difficult. The city of Paterson, 
N. J., falls in this second group. With a population of approxi- 
mately 125,000 people, this city covers an area of only a trifle more 
than six square miles. Only meagre attempts were made to pro- 
vide school sites sufficiently large to meet the playground needs 
when additions to buildings became necessary. Even on the out- 
skirts of the city, where unoccupied land is at present available, 
the school buildings occupy the larger part of the school grounds. 
Purchases of land in these latter cases to the extent of whole city 
blocks may be made at present at fairly reasonable prices. These 
conditions are duplicated in many other of our American cities. 
It is safe to assume that greater and greater demand for more ade- 
quate playground facilities will be made on boards of education as 
years pass. 

It no doubt would be a far-sighted policy on the part of school 
boards to begin early in bringing their situations up to the pro- 
posed standards. In making extensions to school grounds, the fol- 
lowing elements must be considered. 

1. The desirability of the use of the present grounds for school 
purposes: environment, accessibility, present and future proximity 
to annoyances, unsanitary or undesirable conditions. 

2. The type of school building, its adaptability to future school 
needs, the possibility of modernization, or the need for abandonment. 

3. The possibility of the elimination of small buildings with 
centralization in buildings where better facilities may be concen- 
trated. 

4. The changes in school enrollment in a building must be noted 
as a gradual decrease may eliminate the need for extensions to 
grounds. 

5. Cooperation with other civic organizations should be estab- 
lished whereby city playgrounds are placed in close proximity to 
school buildings, thus preventing a duplication of playground pro- 
visions. 

6. Plans should provide for adequate playgrounds in connection 
with all buildings. Where land costs are prohibitive, playgrounds, 
provided even at a short distance from the schools themselves, 
could be utilized. 



Studies Involving the School Plant 



73 



7. High school playgrounds will preferably be located in immedi- 
ate vicinity of the school building. Duplication of dressing and 
bathing facilities will in such cases not be necessary. The probabili- 
ties are that compulsory military drill will form a part of all future 
high school programs. This further stresses the need for an ade- 
quate athletic or drill field. 

TABLE XLV 

Land Needed to Bring All School Grounds Up to Thirty Square 
Feet per Child Ten Years Hence in Milwaukee, Wis., 1916 38 



School 


Estimated 

enrollment 

10 years 

hence 


30 sq. ft. 
per 
child 


Present 

area 


Net amount 

needed 

to meet the 

30 sq. ft. 

standard 


Additional 
amount 
needed 

to meet the 
50 sq. ft. 
standard 


Detroit 


800 


24,000 


7.300 


16,700 


16,000 


Ninth 


1,200 


36,000 


16,620 


19,380 


24,000 


Bartlett 


635 


19,050 


12,080 


6,970 


12,700 


Eighteenth Avenue 


1,200 


36,000 


21,680 


14,320 


24,000 


Jefferson 


652 


19.560 


12,500 


7,060 


13,040 


Second 


590 


17,700 


13,210 


4,490 


n.Soo 


Dover 


990 


29,700 


21,840 


7,860 


19,800 


Twentieth Street 


750 


22,500 


17.300 


5.200 


15,000 


Ring 


1,090 


32,700 


25,000 


7,700 


21,800 


Eighth Street 


650 


19,500 


15.500 


4,000 


13,000 


Island 


670 


20,100 


16,700 


3.400 


13.400 


Mineral 


764 


22,920 


17.830 


5,090 


15.280 


Brown 


880 


26,400 


21,930 


4.470 


17,600 


Walker 


435 


13.050 


9.805 


3-245 


8,700 


Prairie 


700 


21,000 


17.050 


3.950 


14,000 


Twenty-first Street 


891 


26,730 


21,930 


4,800 


17,820 


Fifth Street 


76S 


22,950 


19.930 


3.020 


15.300 


Sixteenth Avenue 


1,050 


3L500 


25,700 


S.800 


21,000 


Windlake 


900 


27,000 


28,000 




18,000 


Fourteenth Street 


950 


28,500 


27,100 


1,400 


19,000 


Totals 


16,562 


406,860 


369,005 


128,855 


330,240 



Total number needed for 50 sq. ft. standard — 459,095 sq. ft. 
38 Survey of Milwaukee School Buildings and Sites, 1916. 



74 A School Building Program for Cities 

In presenting the needs for additional playground areas in 
Milwaukee in 1916, the survey committee utilized the very accepta- 
ble tabulation of Table XLV in showing the amounts of land 
needed to bring some particularly inadequate playgrounds up to 
the standard of thirty as well as fifty square feet per pupil of the 
estimated enrollment for ten years hence. 

Economy in School Building Planning 

In the formation of judgments regarding the efficiency of a 
school plant, the elements of economy of planning and the percentile 
allotments of space for the various educational activities should be 
given great consideration. The Committee on Standardization of 
School Buildings of the Department of Educational Administration 
of the N. E. A. has determined for fifty-four school buildings the 
percentages of floor areas that have been devoted to the various 
purposes for which space is provided in school buildings. The per- 
centages under the five major purposes, administration, instruction, 
social activities, general use, and construction, as distributed for 
twenty elementary schools, twenty-one high schools, four technical 
high schools, and nine junior high schools, are shown in Table 
XLVI. These buildings are representative of types that are being 
constructed in various parts of the United States. They represent 
the plans of various architects. 

The wide variations in the percentages of space found to have 
been devoted to each of these major purposes indicate the need for 
the full consideration of such percentages in the measurement of a 
school plant as well as in the planning of new structures. The mid- 
dle fifty per cent for each item may be considered a fair range for 
purposes of comparison. That high percentages of space are desira- 
ble for instructional and social activities, low percentages for 
construction, and reasonable percentages for administration and gen- 
eral purposes, will be admitted. 

Table XLVI I shows a distribution of the percentages of floor 
area in each set of schools mentioned on the basis of educational 
and social activities combined. Such a wide range as is shown in 
the grade school column, where are found 82.5 per cent at one ex- 
treme, and 32.5 per cent at the other extreme of the distribution, in- 
dicates the need for a careful consideration of the complete ultimate 
utilization of a building before building plans are approved. 



Studies Involving the School Plant 



75 



TABLE XLVI 
Percentages of Entire Floor Areas Devoted to Various Purfoses 

In twenty elementary, hventy-one high, four technical high, and nine junior 

high schools 



Grade schools 


Academic high schools 


Admin- 
istration 


Instruc- 
tion 


Social 
activi- 
ties 


General 


Con- 
struc- 
tion 


Admin- 
istra- 
tion 


Instruc- 
tion 


Social 
activi- 
ties 


General 


Con- 
struc- 
tion 


36.65 


54-17 


24-53 


43-03 


12.58 


17-935 


48.18 


30.69 


29.76 


13.40 


22.60 


49.70 


23.06 


27.70 


12.58 


17.66 


47.907 


27.723 


26.82 


12.37 


20.65 


49.67 


22.21 


27-437 


12.093 


17.64 


44.07 


27.07 


25-37 


12.10 


20.43 


48.29 


21.00 


26.663 


n-57 


16.64 


42.50 


25-45 


24.99 


IO.93 


20.21 


47.16 


19-57 


24.01 


n. 18 


16.34 


41.964 


24.88 


24.29 


IO.9I 


1977 


44.60 


19.49 


23.69 


10.97 


16.01 


40.667 


23.88 


24.08 


10.821 


19-45 


44.60 


18.16 


22.36 


10.83 


15-67 


39.88 


23.42 


24.06 


IO.7O 


18.43 


44-43 


14.809 


22.34 


10.71 


15-58 


35-52 


22.25 


23.96 


IO.69 


17.68 


42.97 


14.44 


22.16 


10.27 


15.48 


34-98 


22.14 


23.64 


10-55 


17.66 


40-57 


13-86 


21.13 


10.26 


13-75 


34-52 


20.13 


22.288 


IO.44 


16.84 


40.48 


13-45 


20.80 


10.09 


13-74 


34.08 


19.097 


21.74 


10.22 


I5.64 


38.34 


12.37 


19.77 


9.08 


12.99 


33-34 


18.43 


21.441 


IO.I5 


15-37 


38.305 


11.97 


18.83 


8.30 


12.63 


32.84 


18.25 


20.51 


9-83 


13-86 


37.702 


9-463 


16.53 


8.07 


12.17 


31.98 


17-75 


19.61 


9-75 


13-045 


37-31 


6.46 


16.50 


8.07 


11.79 


31. 119 


17.61 


19-34 


9-58 


12.82 


36.65 


6-33 


I3-67 


7.776 


11.449 


30.58 


16.61 


18.315 


8.89 


12.67 


36.40 


5-64 


11.66 


7-44 


10.87 


30.33 


14.14 


18.30 


8.67 


io-75 


33-48 




11. 16 


7.42 


10.67 


29.70 


13-73 


18.00 


8-59 


10.39 


27.77 




IO-33 


7-36 


9-50 


28.37 


13.608 


17.604 


8. 161 


9.41 


26.09 




10.13 


5-69 


9-37 


27.64 


9.42 


17.19 


7-44 












7.216 


25-57 


.46 


14.14 


7.04 


17.25™ 


40.525 


13-652 


20.965 


10.175 


13-745 


34-30 


19.613 


22.014 


10.33 


19.99^ 


46.52 


45-88 


23-85 


11.075 


16.007 


40.70 


24.197 


24.098 


10.786 


I2.932 il 


36.980 


6.362 


15-085 


7-923 


11.275 


30.512 


16.076 


18.437 


9.121 



39 Median. 

40 Seventy-five percentile. 

41 Twenty-five percentile. 

Note. Under Administration are included offices, faculty rooms, janitor's quarters, 
clinics, wardrobes, storage, toilets, boiler, coal and fan rooms, and elevators. 

Under Instruction are included classrooms, laboratories, manual training and 
domestic science rooms, music and art studios, study halls, shops, and libraries. 

Under Social Activities are included assembly halls, gymnasium, recreation rooms 
and lunchrooms. 

Under General Purposes are classified stairways, corridors, flues, vestibules, and 
dead space. 

Under Construction are included interior and exterior walls. 



76 



A School Building Program for Cities 

TABLE XLVI— (Continued) 



Technical high schools 




Jun 


ior high schools 




A dmin- 
istration 


Instruc- 
tion 


Social 
activi- 
ties 


General 


Con- 
struc- 
tion 


A dmin- 
istra- 
tion 


Instruc- 
tion 


Social 
activi- 
ties 


General 


Con- 
struc- 
tion 


24.82 


43-94 


22.13 


24.20 


14.14 


21.78 


44.91 


27.61 


27.72 


12.92 


19.41 


37-73 


20.357 


23-453 


II.06 


18.25 


43-75 


20.11 


21-55 


IO.95 


12.083 


35-109 


20.11 


17.10 


9.62 


17-74 


43-37 


18.52 


21.25 


9-35 


7.69 


34-92 


1748 


15.81 


9-57 


16.32 


42.88 


I8.0I 


20.88 


8.69 












I5-56 


41. 11 


I5.84 


20.56 


8.21 












15-35 


40.29 


I4.82 


20.24 


7-79 












11.25 


36.52 


12.97 


19-73 


6-94 












10.86 


32-59 


n-95 


14.42 


6.71 












9-95 


32.11 


8.07. 


13-85 


6.68 


I5-746 i2 


36.419 


20.233 


20.276 


10.34 


I5-56 


41.11 


15.84 


20.56 


8.21 


22.115® 


40.835 


21.243 


23.826 


12.60 


17-753 


43-451 


18.80 


21.06 


9-585 


9.886 " 


35-014 


18.795 


16.455 


9-595 


11.616 


35-517 


12.818 


17.03 


6.96 



42 Median. 

43 Seventy-five percentile. 

44 Twenty-five percentile. 

Note. Under administration are included offices, faculty rooms, janitor's quarters 
clinics, wardrobes, storage, toilets, boiler, coal and fan rooms, and elevators. 

Under Instruction are included classrooms, laboratories, manual training and 
domestic science rooms, music and art studios, study halls, shops, and libraries. 

Under Social Activities are included assembly halls, gymnasium, recreation rooms, 
and lunchrooms. 

Under General Purposes are classified stairways, corridors, flues, vestibules, and 
dead space. 

Under Construction are included interior and exterior walls. 



Studies Involving the School Plant 77 

TABLE XLVII 

Percentages of Entire Floor Areas in Fifty-four School Buildings 
Devoted to Instructional and Social Activities Combined 



Grade 


High 


Technical 


Junior 


Schools 


Schools 


H.S. 


H.S. 


82.511 


67-95 


64.05 


61.89 


66.64 


67.104 


57-05 


61.76 


65-31 


58.842 


55-466 


60.20 


6i.57 


58.33 


55-21 


56.63 


58.43 


57.80 




55-11 


58-05 


57-49 




54-83 


57-81 


56.77 




54-o8 


56.97 


56.71 




52.98 


55-97 


55-86 




47-95 


55-94 


54-275 






55.83 


54.00 






54-17 


53-27 






51-75 


53-25 






50.83 


52-97 






49.70 


51-59 






48.62 


51-59 






48.29 


51-384 






47.768 


48.76 






46.12 


48.64 






32-55 


48.22 
47-71 






Median 55-885 


54-oo 


56.258 


55-H 


75 percentile 58.24 


57-725 


60.55 


57-522 


25 percentile 40.16 


51-435 


55-338 


53-255 



Full consideration given the question of economy of school 
planning should prevent much useless expenditure for fuel, mainte- 
nance, and janitorial service. With constantly increasing school 
costs, such savings are of the utmost importance. That extremely 
wide variations in such costs may be found in school systems is 
amply illustrated from the situation found to exist in the schools of 
St. Paul in 1913-1916. 45 The ranges, both on the basis of each pupil 
in average daily attendance and of each 1 ,000 cubic feet of classroom 
space, as given in Table XLVIII, indicate disparities within a 
school system, the avoidance of which is desirable in future con- 
struction. 

45 St. Paul Survey, 1917, pp. 127 ff. 



78 A School Building Program for Cities 

TABLE XLVIII 
Cost of Fuel in St. Paul, Minn., Average for the Four Years, 1913-1916 



Per pupil in average 


Per 1000 cubic feet 


daily attendance 


classroom space 


Average per 


Number of 


Average per 


Number of 


building 


buildings 


building 


buildings 


$o.73-$o.99 


4 


$3-00-$3-99 


6 


1. 00- 1.24 


IS 


4.00- 4.99 


18 


1.25- 1.49 


11 


5.00- 5.99 


7 


1.50- 1.74 


6 


6.00- 6.99 


6 


1.75- 1.99 


5 


7.00- 7.99 


5 


2.00- 2.24 


1 


8.00- 8.99 


2 


2.25- 2.49 


1 


9.00- 9.99 


3 


2.50- 2.74 


3 


10.00 and over 


4 


2.75- 2.99 


1 






Over 3.00 


4 


Total 


5i 


Total 


5i 







The Measurement of Classroom Facilities 

When one considers the extreme importance to the child of class- 
rooms that are properly lighted, of such a size as to give the child 
the maximum of opportunity for profiting from his school work, 
and so equipped as to eliminate all obstacles to this same end, the 
persistence of boards of education in building and equipping class- 
rooms which fail to conform with accepted standards, and the 
omission of any program for modernization of especially defective 
classrooms, appear criminal. Among students of educational 
needs considerable unanimity of opinion prevails concerning the 
desirable dimensions, lighting, and equipment of elementary class- 
rooms. The degree of agreement on the size of elementary class- 
rooms is evident in Table XLIX. 

The situation in respect to the minimum per pupil allowance in 
floor area and air space, as it appears on the statute books of several 
states, is shown in Table L. 

From the above proposed standards it may be seen that the 
acceptable classroom may vary in its dimensions from 23 x 28 to 
24 x 32 feet, with a height of 12 to 12^2 feet. Such a room should 
accommodate not more than 40 children. The situations found to 



Studies Involving the School Plant 79 

TABLE XLIX 

Dimensions of Elementary Classrooms Acceptable to Various 
Authorities 



Authority 


Width 
feet 


Length 
feet 


Height 
feet 


Portland, Oregon, Survey . 


23 or 24 


30 


Not more than I2j4 


Butte, Montana, Survey 


23 


30 


Not more than 12 to 13 


Salt Lake City, Survey 








Best 


22 


28 


12 


Permissible 


24 


32 


13 


St. Paul, Minnesota, Survey 








Minimum 


23 


28 


12 


Maximum 


24 


32 


12 


Dresslar's American Schoolhouses 


24 


32 


12}4 


North Dakota state law 






12 at least 


New Jersey state law 






12 at least 


Ohio state law 






At least ]A width of 
room 



TABLE L 

Minimal per Pupil Allowance in Floor Area and Air Space 
Permitted Under Various State Laws 46 



State laws of 


Minimum, number of 


Minimum number of 


square 


feet per pupil 


cubic feet per pupil 


Indiana 






225 


Minnesota 




18 


216 


New Jersey 




18 


200 


New York 




15 


20O 


f Primary 




16 


200 


Ohios Grammar 




18 


225 


[ High School 




20 


250 


Pennsylvania 




15 


200 


Utah 




15 


200 


Virginia 




15 


200 


Louisiana 






200 



46 Compiled from Bulletin No. 47, 1915, United States Bureau of Education. 



8o 



A School Building Program for Cities 



exist in respect to elementary classroom areas and cubitures in three 
typical cities clearly point out the great possibilities of waste in 
child and teacher energy as well as in money costs. In St. Paul, 
the twenty classrooms of one school building have cubitures of 
20,000 cubic feet, when the desirable maximum is less than 10,000. 
In Omaha ten classrooms have less than 550 square feet of floor 
area available for forty children, while the desirable minimum is 
616. These are situations that can be duplicated frequently. If 
the standard number of square feet per elementary classrooms were 
to be considered as ranging from 616 to 768 square feet and the 
standard range of cubiture were to be considered as ranging from 
7,392 to 9,984 cubic feet, the three cities, St. Paul, Omaha, and 
Paterson would rank as follows : 





St. Paul 


Omaha 


Paterson 


Number of square feet in the median-sized 








classroom 


840 


897 


702 


Percentage of rooms below standard in floor area 


2-5 


3-4 


39-5 


Percentage of rooms at standard in floor area 


27.0 


37-6 


49.0 


Percentage of rooms above standard in floor area 


70.4 


59-0 


II. 6 


Number of cubic feet in median classroom 


10,700 


9,521 


8,448 


Percentage of rooms below standard in air space 


I .2 


4.2 


36.8 


Percentage of rooms at standard in air space 


27.4 


70. 1 


55-9 


Percentage of rooms above standard in air space 


71 .2 


26.1 


7-3 


Number of elementary classrooms in this distribu- 








tion 


489 


625 


481 



The Lighting of Classrooms 

The necessity for the modernization of old school buildings is 
often easily proved by the great defects in the natural lighting 
system of the classrooms. Various states have already established 
standards in the ratio between window and floor areas in class- 
rooms and in other lighting factors. This ratio varies from I to 7 
in Louisiana to 1 to 4 in Virginia. Five of the eight states which 
have written a ratio into their laws have selected the 1 to 5 standard. 
Five of seven states still permit by law the construction of class- 
rooms lighted on two sides. The faults of bilateral lighting are so 
evident that no defense of unilateral lighting seems necessary here. 



Studies Involving the School Plant 81 

Tables containing such data for each building in the school sys- 
tem, as the highest ratio between window and floor area in any 
room, the median ratio in the building, and the lowest ratio in any 
room, will point out buildings which are most defective in respect 
to the amount of light provided for children. Such tables may well 
be supplemented with photometric readings of the amounts of light 
available from day to day on various desks in each classroom. The 
percentage of elementary classrooms in five large school systems 
having less than the 20 per cent ratio of window area to floor space 
is as follows: St. Paul 67.2 per cent, Omaha 47.1 per cent, Paterson, 
64.8 per cent, Salt Lake City 52 per cent, and Denver 96.7 per cent. 

The program for modernization of a school plant may, with 
a not overburdening expenditure, include such minor changes in the 
lighting of classrooms as will prevent glare on blackboards and the 
necessity for children looking constantly into strong sky light. The 
aim of every board of education and superintendent of schools 
should be the gradual elimination of all lighting except from the 
left and in conformance with the standards set up in the Strayer 
Building Score Card. To-day large school plants may be found 
where even as few as 25 to 30 per cent of all elementary classrooms 
are lighted from the left only. Only 31 per cent of Omaha's 623 
elementary rooms were so lighted in June, 191 7. Classrooms had 
even been added to this school system during the year 1916-1917 
which were being lighted largely from the rear of the pupils and only 
partially from the left. 

Drinking, Washing, and Toilet Facilities for Children in 
an Elementary School Plant 

Since the advent of the sanitary drinking fountain, the standard 
installation suggested for an elementary school building has been 
one fountain for every seventy-five children of possible building 
enrollment. Other factors affecting this standard have been : height 
for each fountain adjusted to size of child utilizing it; the selection 
of a fountain which does not permit of contact between the metal 
and the child's lips ; the placement of fountains where they are most 
accessible ; the elimination of all fountains from toilet rooms. 

School systems are failing to accept even this lenient standard for 
drinking fountains. A comparison of the drinking facilities pro- 
vided in the schools of five large cities points out the great variation 



82 



A School Building Program for Cities 



in practice. The percentage of buildings below the standard of one 
fountain for every seventy-five children was, at the time the sur- 
veys were made, for St. Paul sixty-seven per cent, Denver thirty- 
one per cent, Omaha twenty-eight per cent. Any program for 
rehabilitation of old buildings should include the acceptance of the 
standards given above and a rigid adherence to them. The demand 
for the elimination of fountains from toilet rooms and their place- 
ment where they are accessible to children when they wish to drink, 
is based on principles too evident to require restatement. School 
systems still exist in the United States where no drinking facilities 
are provided children except in dark, unsanitary, foul-smelling toilet 
rooms. 

The building program of a board of education which fails to 
include proper consideration for bathing and washing facilities in 
old, poorly equipped buildings, as well as in buildings under con- 
struction, is ostensibly antagonistic to any program of medical 
inspection or insistence upon child welfare for the promotion of 
which this board of education is no doubt paying trained physi- 
cians and nurses. 

It is surprising to find in such school systems as Omaha, Neb., 
and Paterson, N. J., that no provision is made for hundreds of 
children for washing their hands during the hours they spend at 
school. It would seem that money spent for one wash bowl for 
every ioo children would not be classified as an extravagant expendi- 
ture, since it is a matter of common knowledge among physicians 
that failure to wash the hands at obviously necessary times results 
in infection and the carrying of disease. The situation in regard to 
washing facilities as it exists in these two cities may be reduced to 
these simple terms. In Omaha 1,080 children and in Paterson 320 
children are provided with no washing facilities. Here is the per- 
centage of children who share washbowls at school with 



Omaha 
Paterson 



100 more 
children 



47- % 
86.6 



More than 
150 children 



25. % 
71.8 



With 200 or 
more children 



8.2% 
57-3 



With 300 or 
more children 



35-9% 



Studies Involving the School Plant 83 

Facilities for bathing that are provided in large school systems, 
expressed in terms similar to those giving the situation in respect 
to washing facilities, would appear ridiculous. Such facilities 
are lacking in large degree in most school systems. Where members 
of boards of education are reluctant to include shower bath facilities 
in their school building programs, it may be illuminating to institute 
a social survey for the purpose of discovering the opportunities 
for bathing offered many of our school children in our densely popu- 
lated sections both during the winter and summer. 

Any measurement of a school building plant will include a sur- 
vey of the toilet accommodations provided in the schools. The 
adequacy of such provisions may easily be reduced to a numerical 
basis, but unfortunately the problem of sanitation is not as easily 
presented. Any study of the deficiencies in toilet accommodations 
in school systems will be followed by a program of additions to 
facilities provided, as well as modernization of fixtures and further 
rehabilitation to conform at least to the minimum standards. Few 
of the school surveys that have been made in the past few years 
have reported finding toilet provisions which were in moderate 
degree acceptable. 

From a study of the conditions in the Omaha schools in 191 7 
it was evident that forty-five per cent of all buildings needed addi- 
tions to their toilet accommodations for boys; that twenty-eight 
per cent required additional accommodations in the girls' sanitaries ; 
that approximately 100 per cent of all the buildings needed better 
lighting provisions, both natural and artificial, for their toilet rooms. 
A program of betterment covering a period of five to ten years 
should in such cases as this be inaugurated with the purpose of 
having ultimately a hundred per cent score. 

Protection Against Fire and Fire Hazards 
From Table XLII the reader is able to ascertain the percentage 
of buildings in four school systems that were seriously lacking in 
fire protection facilities and in fireproof ness. That only within a 
comparatively short period has fireproof construction been given 
consideration in the erection of school buildings is evident from the 
studies that have been made of the school plants of many of our 
large cities. All of these studies emphasize in more or less degree 

The lack of fire-escapes and fireproofed stairwells; 



84 A School Building Program for Cities 

The failure to provide wire glass for windows abutting upon fire-escapes; 

The presence of combustible materials under wooden stairways; 

The absence of fire doors and partitions at danger points; 

The absence of extinguishers and other fire apparatus; 

The failure to recharge extinguishers according to directions; 

The absence of exit lights and signs; 

The unprotected nature of ceilings and walls in boiler-rooms; 

and many other serious deficiencies that should be cared for through 
a definite and continuous program for the removal of fire hazards. 
One of the most comprehensive programs possible for the removal 
of fire hazards is the one laid down by Superintendent Spaulding, 
of Minneapolis, in 1916. His program listed thirty-six items of 
major importance from additional fire extinguisher apparatus to 
metal self-closing waste cans. A school executive may well follow 
the example set by Superintendent Spaulding in ferreting out the 
danger points in his schools and recommending to his board and 
community action for their removal or diminution. Spaulding's 
thirty-six items for protection were: Separating fuel rooms from 
boiler rooms; fireproofing boiler room ceilings; fireproof boiler 
room doors; wire glass in boiler room windows; metal window 
frames; iron ladders in boiler rooms; iron scaffolds to reach boiler 
valves; fireproof stairs in boiler rooms; removing woodwork from 
boiler rooms; patching holes in boiler room walls and ceiling; iron 
ash platforms in boiler rooms; remodeling heating plant; outside 
exit from boiler rooms ; fireproofing space under stairways ; improv- 
ing present fire-escapes; fire walls or curtains between old and new 
parts of buildings; improving fire alarm system; eliminating de- 
fects in electrical systems ; repairing or removing gas equipment and 
extending electric lighting; installing red exit lights and signs in 
gymnasium-assembly rooms; fire extinguisher equipment; gas shut- 
off valves; extension of gas stove vents through roof; widening 
and otherwise improving stairways and additional stairways; 
replacing wood partitions between classrooms and corridors with 
fireproof material; protecting wood from steam pipes; repairing 
and fireproofing foul air duct; changing and adding doors other 
than those in boiler and engine rooms; alterations and repairs of 
motion picture booth; metal lining for dry kiln and fireproofing 
dry heat boxes in high schools; self-closing metal waste cans; 
metal sawdust boxes; metal-covered shelves in manual training 



Studies Involving the School Plant 85 

rooms; oil containers for engine rooms; equipping wood shop 
with dust collectors; installing a sprinkler system in the basements 
of sixty-three non-fireproof buildings, as a protection to life and 
property, mainly the latter, at an average cost of $2,500 per building. 

A summary of the provisions against fire dangers as found in the 
Omaha schools in June, 191 7, is indicative of what may be found 
in many other school systems. 

In Omaha, of the possible sixty-five points to which a perfect 
building is entitled on the Strayer Building Score Card under the 
item of fire protection, only thirteen per cent of the elementary 
buildings were allotted thirty-three points or more. Eighty-seven 
per cent of the buildings secured less than fifty per cent of the 
possible score. Only thirty fire extinguishers were installed in the 
fifty-five elementary schools. This is less than one extinguisher 
to a school. It is considerably less than the standard of one ex- 
tinguisher to each 5,000 square feet of floor area. Most of these 
extinguishers &re of the type that require recharging annually. 
Twenty were found which had not been recharged since 1912. 
Four had been recharged since December, 191 5, while two were 
recharged shortly after the visit of the committee. Some ex- 
tinguishers did not bear the ' necessary tag. One janitor gave as 
his reason for failure to recharge his extinguisher that he had asked 
for the chemicals but could not get them from the supply office. 

Standpipes and fire hose, in a few instances garden hose, were 
provided in nineteen elementary schools. Twenty-one buildings 
had neither fire hose nor extinguisher. These same buildings were 
in most cases not fireproof; their boiler-rooms were not surrounded 
by fire-proof partitions; fire escapes were lacking. 

Of the fifty two-story or more elementary school buildings in use 
in 1917, eight were equipped with fire-escapes. These eight build- 
ings had eighteen fire-escapes, of which four on the old Clifton Hill 
School were made entirely of wood. Twelve of the remaining thir- 
teen fire-escapes might easily have been rendered useless because 
all the windows facing upon them or underneath them were fitted 
with plain glass, which offers no resistance to fire. 

Many of the facts quoted concerning the Omaha schools will 
on investigation be found to be equally true of other school sys- 
tems. They determine the value of adoption in the school build- 
ing program of a fixed policy for guarding against fire dangers. 



86 A School Building Program for Cities 

The Measurement of Special Room Provision 

The percentile distribution of buildings according to the per- 
centage of all possible points allotted to each building for special 
rooms and special room equipment, as given in Table XLII, 
affords one means of measurement of the opportunities offered 
children outside of the regular classrooms. All four cities in- 
cluded in the table stand out as woefully lacking in the special 
rooms that may be considered to-day essential in a modern school 
building. 

From Table XXXVI it appears that the tendency has prevailed 
in the past to provide special room facilities in the larger buildings 
only. With only 214 special rooms listed for the 221 buildings of 
this table, it is evident that the average per building is exceedingly 
low. Of these 214 special rooms, thirty-four per cent were devoted 
to manual training, eighteen per cent to domestic science, five per 
cent were gymnasiums, eighteen per cent were auditoriums, nine 
per cent were playrooms, five per cent were lunchrooms, and nine 
per cent were libraries. 

The Report on the Boston Public Schools 47 lists the special room 
equipment of fifty-six school buildings divided as follows among 
five large cities — Boston, nineteen; Cleveland, eleven; Detroit, 
ten; Newark, nine; St. Louis, seven. As special rooms were in- 
cluded only those that possessed "a direct educational value for the 
children," while those were omitted "which are necessary for 
administrative purposes but which must be included in every 
modern school building." 

The frequency of the occurrence of each type of special room 
mentioned in these lists, as arranged in Table LI, will tend to 
show on what elements of special room equipment emphasis has 
been placed in these five large cities. Ninety-three per cent of 
these buildings were erected in the period 1910-1915. 

If the situation in these fifty-six school buildings may be accepted 
as partially indicative of the tendency in school building construc- 
tion during this period of 1910-1915, it is clear that playrooms, 
auditoriums, teachers' rooms, manual training rooms and domestic 
science or cooking rooms, are the special room equipment that 
have been given greatest stress. Rest rooms, dispensaries or 

47 City Document No. 87, 1916. 



Studies Involving the School Plant 



87 



TABLE LI 

Frequency of the Occurrence of Various Types of Special Rooms 

in Fifty-six School Buildings of Five Large Cities 





City and number of buildings 


TYPE OF SPECIAL ROOMS 


Boston 


Cleve- 
land 


Detroit 


Newark 


1 
St. Louis 


Total 




19 


II 


IO 


9 


7 


56 


Auditorium or assembly hall 


IO 


IO 




9 


5 


34 


Domestic science or cooking 














room 


9 


7 


10 




1 


27 


Dispensary or clinic 




10 


8 






18 


Elevator 




2 








2 


Filter room 




2 








2 


Handball court 




1 








1 


Housekeeping suite 




2 








2 


Doctor's room and waiting 














room 








8 




8 


Gymnasium 




IO 




5 


5 


20 


Kitchenette 




7 








7 


Kitchens 




1 


1 






2 


Dining room 






1 






1 


Library 




1 


10 


5 




16 


Manual training 


10 


7 


10 




1 


28 


Nurses' room 


17 










17 


Playrooms 


17 


5 


10 




6 


38 


Open-air cot rooms 




1 








1 


Natatorium 




5 








5 


Physical instructor 








6 




6 


Medical inspection and rest 














room 










5 


5 


Kindergarten 










5 


5 


Medical inspection 










1 


1 


Rest rooms 


1 


11 


6 




1 


19 


Room for blind 




1 








1 


Sewing room 




1 








1 


Lunch room 




1 








1 


Recitation 






10 






10 


Cot rooms 






1 






1 


Sun room 




1 








1 


Teacher room or rooms 


18 




2 


7 


4 


3i 


Teacher lunch 




8 








8 


Shower and locker rooms 




6 


1 




6 


13 


Waiting room 






2 






2 


Unassigned 




3 








3 


Warming room 




1 








1 



88 A School Building Program for Cities 

clinics, nurses' rooms, libraries, and shower and locker rooms, are 
next in the order of emphasis. The Boston Report shows the varia- 
tion in special rooms for each twenty regular classrooms in each 
of the five cities. The number varies from 4.7 in Newark to 13.5 
in Cleveland. 



PART III 
FINANCING A BUILDING PROGRAM 

I. THE ABILITY TO PAY FOR THE NECESSARY ADDITIONS 
TO A SCHOOL BUILDING PLANT 

In the determination of the ability of a community to pay for 
necessary extensions to a school building plant, such elements as 
the actual per capita wealth, per capita net debt, tax rate per $1,000 
of actual valuation, actual wealth per child in average daily atten- 
dance, the cost of maintenance of the schools on various bases, the 
expenditures for school outlays over a period of years, and the pro- 
portion of municipal expenditures devoted to educational pur- 
poses, form the basis for any conclusions. 

Where considerations involving the expenditures of moneys for 
school building extensions arise, intelligent action requires that 
such essential facts should be available as the amount of taxable 
wealth expressed in terms of a single inhabitant, in terms of a 
child of school census, or even in average daily attendance, as well 
as the city's outstanding indebtedness expressed in the same 
terms. Accurate figures involving the wealth of a community are 
extremely difficult to obtain, due to our varied systems of assess- 
ment and our proportional scheme of taxation. The United States 
Bureau of the Census, in presenting wealth data for American 
cities in its annual issue of Financial Statistics of Cities, takes care to 
point out the many difficulties encountered as well as the inaccura- 
cies that may affect the most painstakingly gathered data. It is 
safe to state that these data presented in these volumes are the 
most accurate obtainable at the present time. 

From the facts presented in the Financial Statistics of Cities for 
1916, Table LI I was formulated. Here is given the estimated true 
value of assessed wealth of all cities above 30,000 for the year 
1 9 16. The location of any individual city in this table will assist 
in the determination of its 'ability to pay'. It may be assumed that 
cities falling below the median are not as capable of providing 
school building facilities as those above the median. West Hoboken, 



90 A School Building Program for Cities 

N. J., with an estimated true per capita assessment of $596.80, may 
be required to weigh more carefully its expenditures for school pur- 
poses than Brookline, Mass., with its estimated assessment of 
$3,883.07 per capita. A city like Paterson, N. J., falling in the 
$70i-$8oo group, or in the lowest quartile, may have justification 
for the poor rating which it secures from a measurement of its 
school plant. On the other hand, St. Paul, classified in the $1,401- 
$1,500 group, or in the fourth quartile, is inexcusably culpable in 
maintaining a school plant which has nine out of fifty-two build- 
ings rating at 500 points or less on the Strayer Building Score Card. 
The tendency in many city surveys has been to locate the city 
being surveyed in a group of selected cities. If the basis of selec- 

TABLE LII 

Estimated True Value of Per Capita Assessment in All Cities of the 
United States Having a Population of 30,000 or Over In 1916 48 

Estimated true value of Number of 

per capita assessment cities 

501- 600 3 

601- 700 . 8 

701- 800 ' 19 

801- 900 23 

901-1,000 37 

1,001-1,100 19 

1,101-1,200 20 

1,201-1,300 22 

1,301-1,400 II 

1,401-1,500 13 

1,501-1,600 12 

1,601-1,700 10 

1,701-1,800 3 

1,801-1,900 3 

1,901-2,000 3 

2,001-2,100 3 

2,101-2,200 ■ ■ • 1 

2,301-2,400 1 

3,101-3,200 1 

3,801-3,900 1 

Total number of cities 213 

Median . . $1,087 

48 Compiled from Financial Statistics of Cities, 1916, pp. 342^". 



Financing a Building Program 



9i 



tion of cities is acceptable, such comparisons may be profitable. 
Such a comparison with the city of St. Paul as the median city, 
as shown in Table LIII, gives the data for the two consecutive years 
191 5 and 1916 and also for 191 1. The correlations between the 
rankings for the years 191 1 and 19 16 and 1915 and 1916, estab- 
lished according to the Spearman formula, are +.88 and +.84 
respectively. It is reasonably fair in this instance to take the 
assessments for the one year 1916 only as the basis for comparison, 

TABLE LIII 



Estimated Real Wealth Per Capita of St. Paul and Twenty-four 
Other Cities for the Three Years 191 1, 1915 and 1916 





Estimated true 


Rank 


Estimated true 


Rank 


Estimated true 






values of per 


values of per 


values of per 


Rank 




capita assess- 


list 


capita assess- 


list 


capita assess- 


list 




ment for iqii 


ment for IQ15 


ment for 1016 


Cincinnati 


1,339-55 


9 


1,489.22 


9 


1,461.49 


10 


Newark 


1,001.56 


18 


1,036.22 


20 


I,053-4I 


20 


Washington 


1,358-57 


8 


1,740-39 


4 


1,733-48 


2 


Minneapolis 


1,568.54 


5 


2,126.57 


1 


1,682.58 


3 


Seattle 


1,813.66 


3 


1,558.78 


6 


1,428.91 


12 


Jersey City 


921.16 


22 


938.08 


21 


975-28 


21 


Kansas City, Mo. 


1,297.40 


10 


1,513.60 


8 


1,656.78 


5 


Indianapolis 


i,47i-75 


6 


i,542.43 


7 


1,543-64 


6 


Portland, Ore. 


2,054.96 


1 


1,800.39 


3 


1,775.02 


1 


Denver 


1,206.24 


13 


1,644.32 


5 


i,4i5-56 


13 


Rochester 


i,043-33 


17 


1,231.19 


16 


1,086.94 


18 


Providence 


1,152.72 


15 


1,411.51 


10 


1,404.29 


14 


St. Paul 


1,454.16 


7 


2,055.12 


2 


1,461.80 


9 


Columbus 


1,255-69 


12 


1,348.31 


13 


1,345-36 


15 


Oakland 


1,590.48 


4 


1,268.07. 


15 


1,528.74 


7 


Toledo 


1,256.69 


11 


1,356.60 


12 


1,430-53 


11 


Worcester 


982.73 


19 


1,103.65 


18 


1,117-75 


17 


Syracuse 


923-88 


21 


1,150.79 


17 


926.26 


22 


New Haven 


962.88 


20 


1,067.72 


19 


1,058.34 


19 


Scranton 


697.97 


25 


746.41 


25 


730.32 


25 


Spokane 


1,925.81 


2 


1,310.83 


14 


1,512.04 


8 


Paterson 


759-69 


24 


812.35 


24 


786.04 


24 


Omaha 


1,201.20 


14 


1,410.65 


11 


1,673-91 


4 


Fall River 


843-33 


23 


817.28 


23 


833-85 


23 


Grand Rapids 


1,050.61 


16 


918.71 


22 


1,289.85 


16 



92 



A School Building Program for Cities 



as was done by Strayer and Engelhardt in the St. Paul Survey.® 
The one year basis may not be fair where other groups of cities 
are involved. The inference may follow that if serious error has 
crept into the estimates of the per capita assessments, it remains 
constant for the years 1911-1916. 

Another index of the ability of a community to pay for exten- 
sions to the school plant is the tax rate on each $1,000 of the esti- 



TABLE LIV 

Distribution Showing Changes in Ranks of Twenty-five Cities 
Compared on the Basis of the Average Rate of Taxation Per 
$1,000 of Estimated Real Value of Property for the Years 1909, 
1910, 191 1, 1913, 1915, and the Rate for One Year Only, i. e., 1915 





1909 


1910 


1911 


1913 


1915 


Aver- 
age for 
five 
years 


Rank 
for 
1915 


Rank 
in 

aver- 
age 


Differ- 
ence in 
rank 


Cincinnati 


17.90 


17.21 


14-55 


14-39 


15.01 


I5-8I 


10 


5 


5 


Newark 


16.64 


16.72 


17.18 


17.84 


18.15 


17-31 


2 


1 


I 


Washington 


10.31 


10.28 


10.00 


10.00 


10.28 


IO.17 


21 


20 


I 


Minneapolis 


9.86 


11.50 


12.41 


12.28 


9.08 


II.03 


24 


18 


6 


Seattle 


949 


9.96 


8-55 


9.08 


15.42 


IO.50 


9 


19 


10 


Jersey City 


12.09 


12.60 


12.43 


13-86 


13-47 


12.89 


11 


10 


1 


Kansas City, Mo. 


n-33 


11.30 


11.24 


11.70 


12.60 


II.63 


15 


15 




Indianapolis 


8-39 


9.24 


9.18 


9-54 


9-99 


9.27 


23 


23 




Portland, Ore. 


8.87 


6.71 


7.92 


8.58 


11.46 


8.71 


16 


24 


8 


Denver 


i5-8o 


16.63 


15.62 


15-38 


10.96 


14.88 


18 


8 


10 


Rochester 


16.36 


16.06 


15.81 


16.28 


16.35 


16.17 


8 


4 


4 


Providence 


14.70 


14.70 


14.70 


12.69 


12.80 


13.92 


13 


9 


4 


St. Paul 


10.34 


10.68 


10.88 


10.32 


7-56 


9.96 


25 


22 


3 


Columbus 


16.02 


15-09 


10.92 


10.82 


10.93 


12.78 


19 


12 


7 


Oakland 


6.94 


7.69 


9.16 


10.30 


16.65 


IO.15 


5 


21 


16 


Toledo 


16.73 


16.70 


u-59 


7-50 


10.74 


12.65 


20 


13 


7 


Worcester 


14.14 


14.01 


14.72 


14.80 


16.87 


14.91 


4 


7 


3 


Syracuse 


18.02 


17-58 


16.53 


14.14 


16.57 


16.57 


7 


3 


4 


New Haven 


14.88 


16.00 


16.09 


I4-5I 


17.23 


15-74 


3 


6 


3 


Scranton 


10.45 


n-34 


11. 11 


12.33 


12.66 


n.58 


14 


16 


4 


Spokane 


9.62 


7.18 


7-35 


7-35 


10.00 


8.30 


22 


25 


3 


Paterson 


12.19 


H-33 


11.27 


11.00 


12.83 


11.72 


12 


14 


2 


Omaha 


10.73 


9-32 


12.96 


13.12 


11.29 


11.48 


17 


17 




Fall River 


16.25 


15.84 


16.41 


16.48 


20.06 


17.01 


1 


2 


1 


Grand Rapids 


12.40 


11-31 


II.OI 


12.76 


16.58 


12.81 


6 


11 


5 



49 St. Paul Survey, 1917, p. 196. 



Financing a Building Program 



93 



mated true value of property. The average of the tax rates on $i ,000 
of estimated value of property for a period of years probably fur- 
nishes a fairer basis for ranking cities of a given group than simply 
the rate per $1,000 of estimated value for one year. It is quite 
clear that a lean year in the matter of municipal expenditures may 

TABLE LV 
Distribution of Tax Rates Per $1,000 of Estimated True Value 
of Property — Cities 30,000 and Over 50 



Tax rate -per $1,000 of 
estimated true value 


1000 


IQIO 


IQII 


1012 


1913 


1915 


1916 


3.01- 4.00 






2 


1 


1 






4.01- 5.00 


2 


2 


I 


2 


3 


4 


2 


5.01- 6.00 


3 


I 


2 


2 


2 


1 


4 


6.01- 7.00 


3 


5 


5 


6 


5 


4 


4 


7.01- 8.00 


7 


11 


12 


9 


9 


4 


5 


8.01- 9.00 


9 


7 


9 


8 


9 


9 


10 


9.01-10.00 


13 


10 


H 


20 


17 


27 


19 


IO.OI-II.OO 


20 


19 


23 


18 


17 


11 


21 


11.01-12.00 


22 


23 


22 


25 


26 


25 


23 


12.01-13.00 


12 


15 


17 


19 


20 


19 


H 


13.01-14.00 


14 


20 


14 


15 


17 


19 


19 


14.01-15.00 


7 


H 


19 


20 


17 


13 


17 


15.01-16.00 


n 


13 


H 


13 


14 


15 


21 


16.01-17.00 


19 


18 


20 


17 


15 


13 


10 


17.01-18.00 


5 


12 


11 


7 


11 


9 


11 


18. 01-19.00 


5 


6 


2 


5 


6 


8 


6 


19.01-20.00 


1 


3 


4 


3 


4 


5 


16 


20.01-21.00 


3 


2 


I 


1 


1 


10 


3 


21.01-22.00 


1 


1 




2 


2 


4 


3 


22.01-23.00 




1 


I 




1 


1 


2 


23.01-24.00 


1 






1 


1 


2 




24.01-25.00 








1 


1 






25.01-26.00 














I 


26.01-27.00 
















27.01-28.00 












I 




Total number of cities 


158 


183 


194 


195 


199 


204 


212 


Medians 


12.14 


12.91 


12.42 


12-35 


12.04 


12.90 


13-23 


25 percentiles 


10.19 


10.52 


10.16 


10.05 


10.23 


10.19 


IO.58 


75 percentiles 


I5-5I 


i5-8o 


15-39 


14.97 


14.79 


16.93 


l6.00 



Compiled from Financial Statistics of Cities. 



94 



A School Building Program for Cities 



follow a period of generous self- taxation for the common good. 
An average for a period of years, therefore, seems a more desirable 
measure. The group of cities of Table LIV has been ranked for 
the one year 191 5 and also on the basis of the average for five years. 
The correlation between the two rankings as determined by the 
Spearman formula is +.71, a rather significant relationship. The 
correlations by the Spearman formula of the rankings of the year 
1915 with the rankings of each of the years 1909, 1910, 191 1, and 
1913 are +.38, +.40, +.56, and +-64 respectively. It will be 
concluded that greater justice will be done a community by rank- 
ing them according to their payments for a period rather than for 
one year. 

Table LV permits of a more complete orientation as regards the 
tax rates per $1,000 of estimated true values than would any com- 
parisons in selected groups. 

This frequency distribution contains all cities with a population 
over 30,000 for the years recorded arranged in relationship to 
the tax rate per $1,000 of estimated true value. Where a city is 
found to be constantly in the two lower quartiles of the distribu- 
tion given in Table LV, it may be considered as evidence of a 
failure to contribute bountifully to community enterprises. Four 
school systems which have had intensive studies made of their 
school building plants have their tax rates per $1,000 of estimated 
true values given below. 





1909 


IQII 


IQI3 


1915 


iqi6 


St. Paul 


10.34 


IO.88 


IO.32 


7-56 


n-33 


Omaha 


10.73 


I2.96 


13.12 


11.29 


12.33 


Brookline 51 










10.95 


Paterson 


12.19 


11.27 


II.OO 


12.83 


14.19 



There is evidence, if these tax rates per $1,000 of estimated true 
value of property are compared with the medians for all cities as 
found in Table LV, that these cities cannot be classified as being 
overtaxed for the support of public enterprises. In the case of 
each of these cities, the survey committees criticized severely the 
failure to provide in all instances adequate school housing for the 

S1 Data not given in Financial Statistics of Cities. 



Financing a Building Program 



95 



children of the city. The slight increase in tax rate per $1,000 in 
any of these cities necessary to provide proper school housing facili- 
ties would not single out any one of them as over-generous, if the 
tax rates of the cities of the third and fourth quartiles are to be 
taken as criteria. Where the validity of utilizing estimated real 
values for comparative purposes is questioned, one may turn to 
distributions of per capita tax levies for the purpose of pointing 
out the taxing tendencies in all cities. It is realized, however, that 
wealth and not population is utilized almost exclusively as the 
base for taxation in the United States. Were the four cities above 

TABLE LVI 

Comparison of the Per Capita Tax Levies of Four Cities with Certain 

Percentiles of a Per Capita Tax Levy Distribution of All Cities 

Above 30,000 





1909 


1QIO 


I9II 


1912 


1913 


1915 


1916 


Number of cities 52 


158 


I84 


194 


195 


199 


204 


213 


Median 


11.60 


I2.00 


n-95 


12.50 


12.53 


14.11 


14.18 


25 percentile 


9.21 


940 


9.78 


9.94 


9-75 


10.82 


11.27 


75 percentile 


13-85 


I47I 


14.97 


15-58 


15-35 


17.89 


17-73 


St. Paul 


13.10 


12.98 


12.60 


12.17 


11.90 


14.86 


16.57 


Omaha 


16.05 


I4.6O 


15.40 


16.67 


16.39 


15-93 


20.32 


Brookline 














42-53 


Paterson 


9.16 


8-59 


8.56 


8.78 


8.48 


10.20 


11. 16 



mentioned to be compared with the percentiles of the per capita 
tax levies for all cities for the period 1909-1916, the conclusions 
drawn would vary only slightly from those deduced from Table LV. 
Table LVI presents such comparisons. 

Paterson does not rise above the twenty-five percentile for any 
year. Omaha is above the seventy-five percentile, while St. Paul 
has taken an intermediate place between the median and seventy- 
five percentile. Brookline has an exceedingly high per capita 
levy for the one year 1916. A high rate should be expected, since 
Brookline's wealth per capita is also exceedingly high. 

62 Data from Financial Statistics of Cities. 



96 A School Building Program for Cities 

The Per Capita Net Debt of a City 

It is conceivable that a city might compare most favorably 
with other cities in its per capita wealth and still feel unwilling to 
increase its expenditures on account of the large debt already in- 
curred. Of course, if this debt were very large it would appear in 
the tax rate. It seems wise, however, to compare the total net debt 
and the per capita net debt when considering increases in school 
outlays. The per capita net debt for American cities varied in 1916 
from $2.40 in Butte, Montana, to $212.48 in San Diego, California. 
The median city had a per capita net debt of $42.65, as shown in 
Table LVII. The four cities St. Paul, Omaha, Paterson, and Brook- 
line were recorded as having net debts of $43.33, $106.75, $37.00, 
and $50.76 respectively for the year 1916. Omaha alone of the 
four stands at the higher end of the distribution. That Omaha has 
accumulated this large debt per capita and still lacks in school 
housing facilities is a serious reflection on the past educational 
leadership of that city. The school system should have been per- 
mitted to have had its just proportional part in the accumulation of 
this debt. St. Paul had in 1916 a net debt slightly above the 
median of the '30,000 and over' cities, Brookline fell into the third 
quartile, and Paterson into the second. On the basis of net debt 
alone, it would seem that these three cities might be considered as 
being in positions to build, without serious financial strain, modern 
buildings to supplant at least four or five of the structures which 
were so severely condemned in the surveys. 

The proportion devoted to school purposes of the entire amounts 
appropriated by a community for the support of municipal activi- 
ties requires very important consideration when increases for school 
outlays are being proposed. In Table LVII I will be found a dis- 
tribution of the per cents of total expenditures for city maintenance 
devoted to schools as arranged for all cities over 30,000 in popula- 
tion for each one of the years 1909, 1910, 191 1, 1912, 1913, 1915, 
1916. There has been a rather consistent increase in the median 
ratio from 1909 to 1916. The seventy-five percentile also shows a 
splendid increase. Cities which find their percentages static or 
retrogressive for this same period of years have in the results of 
this table an additional argument for additions to available school 
funds. In using this table it will be borne in mind that cities like 



Financing a Building Program 97 

Paterson, N. J., with 125,000 inhabitants concentrated in approxi- 
mately seven square miles, will in all probability not be required to 
contribute as heavily to such items as street, sewer, fire, and police 
maintenance as will cities that have larger acreages and much 
lower population densities. 

It may be said that this increase in the ratio of moneys devoted 
to school purposes was to be expected during the period 1909-1916, 
since this period was a period of increasing salaries and since nor- 
mally sixty to seventy-five per cent of school appropriations is 

TABLE LVII 53 

Distribution of Cities Over 30,000 According to Per Capita Net Debt 54 

Per capita Number of 

net debt cities 

$5.00 and less 3 

5.oi-$io.oo 4 

10.01- 15.00 7 

15.01- 20.00 18 

20.01- 25.00 18 

25.01- 30.00 15 

30.01- 35.00 19 

35.01- 40.00 15 

40.01- 45.00 14 

45.01- 50.00 13 

50.01- 55.00 19 

55.01- 60.00 9 

60.01- 65.00 15 

65.01- 70.00 7 

70.01- 75.00 6 

75.01- 80.00 2 

80.01- 85.00 3 

85.01- 90.00 3 

90.01- 95.00 . . . t 6 

95.01-100.00 5 

100.01-105.00 1 

105.01-1 10.00 2 

110.01-115.00 3 

115.01-120.00 2 

120.00 and over 4 

213 

Median $42.6$ 

68 Financial Statistics of Cities, 1916, pp. 321 ff. 

64 Net debt is funded and floating debt less sinking fund assets. 



9 8 



A School Building Program for Cities 



devoted to the payment of salaries. That communities have been 
gradually increasing the ratio devoted to schools, irrespective of the 
fact that salaries have been increasing, may be seen in the following 
tables, where the per capita governmental cost payments for edu- 
cation are compared with those of the other two city departments 
involving the employment of the greatest number of individuals: 
i. e., the fire and the police departments. That salaries have in- 
creased in these two departments during this same period has been 
also true. The fire and police departments have, however, as these 
figures show, fallen back very perceptibly in their competition for 
financial favor. In other words, superintendents of schools may 
find in these facts rather conclusive arguments to back any reason- 
able increase which they may demand in the percentage of total 
municipal expenditures locally allowed for education, should they 
find their cities ranking low on Table LVIII. 

TABLE LVIII 

Per Cent of City Expenses Devoted to Schools 65 
in All Cities of 30,000 or Over (1909-1916) 

Number of Cities Devoting Specified Per Cent of Expenses to Schools 



Per cent 


1909 


1910 


IQII 


1912 


1913 


1915 


1916 


IO.O-14.9 






2 


1 


3 


1 


1 


15.O-19.9 


2 


3 


3 


4 


2 


4 


4 


20.O-24.9 


16 


16 


18 


19 


20 


12 


12 


25.0-29.9 


18 


22 


26 


28 


30 


38 


39 


30.0-34.9 


42 


44 


49 


44 


43 


37 


34 


35-°-39-9 


3i 


43 


37 


4i 


40 


40 


38 


40.0-44.9 


28 


25 


33 


33 


33 


33 


39 


45.0-49.9 


12 


19 


21 


19 


17 


24 


26 


50.0-54.9 


4 


6 


4 


6 


9 


14 


18 


55-o-59-9 










2 






60.0-64.9 












1 


2 


Total 


153 


178 


193 


195 


199 


204 


213 


25 percentile 


30.2 


30.3 


29.9 


29.4 


29.2 


29.4 


29.8 


75 percentile 


39-2 


41.2 


40.8 


41.1 


41.2 


42.6 


43-9 


Median 


34-6 


35-4 


34-8 


35-2 


35-2 


35-9 


36.9 



65 Compiled from Financial Statistics of Cities. 



Financing a Building Program 



99 



It has been a common practice in making financial comparisons 
of cities in surveys to use the figures for one year only in the com- 
parisons. In pointing out the differences in the per cents of gov- 
ernmental cost payments devoted to schools in groups of selected 
cities, the relationships existing during a one-year period have been 
utilized as the basis of argument. The Brookline, Butte, Salt Lake 
City, Denver, and other surveys have followed this plan. Table 
LX presents data for a period of five years for a group of cities show- 
ing the shifting of rank for each city during this period. Fig. 6 
shows the shifting still more clearly. The cities utilized in this 
comparison compose the list used by Strayer and Engelhardt in the 
building survey of St. Paul, Minn., in 191 7. It will be noted that 
comparatively few cities of the list maintain their rankings over 
this period. Very oddly, the first and last cities in the list are most 
uniform as to ranking. Illustrations of the injustice of using merely 

TABLE LIX 

Comparison of Per Capita Governmental Cost Payments for 
Education, Police Department and Fire Department 

Cities 30,000 and Over, 1000-1016 5G 

Ratio of the median per capita governmental cost payments for educational, 
police, and fire departments of the years 1909-1916 to the median per capita ex- 
penditures for 1909. 



Year 


IQOQ 


IQIO 


IQII 


IQI2 


I9I3 


1915 


1916 


Education 

Police 

Fire 


1. 00 

1. 00 
1. 00 


1.009 
1.008 

.972 


I.O42 

1.006 

•965 


I.O74 
1.008 
I.OI3 


I.07I 

.991 

1.006 


1. 198 

1-033 
1.062 


1.267 
1.076 
1.068 



Ratio of the seventy-five percentile of per capita governmental cost payments for 
educational, police and fire departments of the years 1909-1916 to the seventy-five 
percentile per capita expenditures for 1909. 



Year 


IQOQ 


IQIO 


IQII 


1Q12 


1Q13 


1915 


iqi6 


Education 


I. OO 


1. 02 1 


I.O9O 


1. 105 


1. 109 


1.213 


1.308 


Police 


I. OO 


.968 


.987 


•95o 


•944 


1.043 


1.018 


Fire 


I. OO 


I.005 


•977 


•977 


.971 


1.062 


1.028 



66 Basic data from Financial Statistics of Cities, 1909-1916 (1914 lacking). 



100 



A School Building Program for Cities 



one year's rankings are seen in the other three cities which have been 
charted in Fig. 6. Omaha's position varies from fifth to eighteenth, 
Seattle from eleventh to twenty- third, while Syracuse varies only 
slightly each year. It is ostensibly fair to rank Syracuse as twenty- 
first in the list. It is surely not fair, on the other hand, to designate 
Seattle's rank as twenty-third on the basis of the last year only. 

TABLE LX 

Distribution of the Per Cent of Entire Expenses for 
Municipal Purposes Devoted to Schools 



Comparison of St. Paul with Twenty-four Selected Cities B7 















Average 




1909 


1910 


1911 


1912 


1915 


per cent 


Cincinnati 


24.6 


24.6 


24.9 


26.1 


26.3 


25-3 


Newark 


30.2 


30.4 


29.7 


3i-3 


30.6 


304 


Washington 


25.6 


25-4 


26.3 


26 


25.8 


25.8 


Minneapolis 


37-2 


34-1 


35 


33-7 


34-6 


34-9 


Seattle 


35-2 


344 


33-7 


31-5 


26.9 


32.3 


Jersey City 


35-5 


35-2 


35-i 


37-1 


374 


36.1 


Kansas City, Mo. 


34-3 


30 


25-8 


29.2 


35-3 


30.9 


Indianapolis 


34-5 


34-5 


33-6 


33-8 


32.7 


33-8 


Portland, Ore. 


38.5 


38.6 


37-1 


38 


36 


37-6 


Denver 


29-5 


28.6 


30.5 


29.4 


29.6 


29-5 


Rochester 


28.9 


27-5 


27-5 


26.1 


27.8 • 


27.6 


Providence 


31.6 


304 


29-5 


29.1 


294 


30 


St. Paul 


30.5 


3i 


31.6 


31.6 


29.8 


30.9 


Columbus 


39-2 


39-1 


33-5 


34-2 


37-3 


36.7 


Oakland 


334 


33 


37-7 


35-8 


40.7 


36.1 


Toledo 


40.7 


38.3 


39-7 


384 


38.9 


39-2 


Worcester 


34-5 


33-7 


31-7 


32.9 


34-5 


33-5 


Syracuse 


30 


30.3 


28.9 


28.1 


28 


29.1 


New Haven 


33-9 


35-7 


35-2 


35-2 


384 


35-7 


Scranton 


48.6 


45-7 


47.2 


46 


44-5 


46.4 


Spokane 


40.9 


38.3 


38 


39-1 


37-2 


38.7 


Paterson 


39-4 


38.9 


36.3 


38.7 


39-3 


38.5 


Omaha 


39-7 


33 


32.9 


3i 


37-8 


34-9 


Fall River 


32.1 


30.9 


344 


33 


36.3 


33-3 


Grand Rapids 


40.9 


39-5 


39-9 


39 


42 


4°-3 



67 For basis of selection, see St. Paul Survey, 1917. 



Financing a Building Program 



101 



Fig. 6 

chart showing the rankings for five years of the cities of 

table lx on the basis of the percentage of all moneys 

raised for municipal purposes devoted to schools 

Rank in 
Group 

i 

2 

3 

4 
5 
6 

7 
8 

9 

IO 

ii 

12 

13 

15 

16 

17 
18 

19 

20 
21 
22 

23 

2 4 

25 




102 A School Building Program for Cities 

Governmental Cost Payments for Expenses of Schools 

Another measure of a community's tendency toward the support 
of education is its per capita expenditure for schools. The distribu- 
tion of this item for cities over 30,000 in 191^ is given in Table LXI. 
Any individual city may readily be placed on this distribution and 
comparisons made with the median city or the city at the seventy- 
five percentile. 

When governmental cost payments for schools expressed in 
terms of the single inhabitant of a city are utilized as the bases for 
comparisons, valuable factors of community composition not 
brought to the fore in the tabulations already mentioned are forced 
into play. Cities having large parochial or private school enroll- 
ments will tend to rate higher in such comparisons than cities where 
the public schools are attended by larger percentages of the chil- 
dren. High percentages of unmarried adults will tend to rank 
cities low in this particular table. 

When the relationship between per capita expenditures for schools 
in various school systems is utilized for the purpose of ranking the 
cities involved, it may be wise to base the ranking on an average for 
a period of years rather than upon one year only. The cities of 
Table LXI I are those utilized on page 375 of the Grand Rapids 
Survey (19 16). Fig. 7 presents the variations in rankings of these 
eighteen cities for a period of seven years. In that time Nashville 
dropped from the upper half to the lower half of the table, New 
Bedford rose from thirteenth to sixth place and then dropped back 
to eighth, and Dayton changed from third place to eleventh. In 
putting before the public tables and charts giving data for one 
year only, the selection of the year for which data are shown may 
make much difference in the conclusions that may be drawn. Grand 
Rapids, the city being surveyed, retained approximately the same 
position for the seven-year period. Only five, or sixteen per cent 
of a maximum of thirty possible rankings in the lowest quartile 
(including ranks 15, 16, 17, 18, 19), have fallen to cities north of the 
Mason and Dixon's line. One city, Bridgeport, is responsible for 
these five ratings. This grouping emphasizes the fact that cities 
south of the Mason and Dixon's line have not begun to assess 
themselves for educational purposes as northern cities have done, 



Financing a Building Program 



103 



TABLE LXI 
Distribution of the Per Capita Governmental Cost Payments of 
Expenses for Schools — Cities Over 30,000 (1909-1916) 58 



Per capita payments 


190Q 


IQIO 


1911 


1912 


1913 


1915 


iqi6 


Less than $2.01 


2 


3 


6 


3 


5 


1 




2.0I-$2.25 




2 


1 


3 


4 


5 


3 


2.26- 2.50 


9 


8 


6 


4 


1 


3 


5 


2.51- 2.75 


5 


I 


5 


6 


10 


2 


3 


2.76- 3.00 


8 


II 


11 


11 


6 


3 


4 


3.01- 3.25 


7 


15 


15 . 


8 


10 


12 


8 


3.26- 3.50 


15 


9 


10 


16 


14 


9 


11 


3-5i- 3-75 


15 


15 


12 


11 


13 


5 


5 


3.76- 4.00 


13 


20 


20 


12 


12 


10 


7 


4.01- 4.25 


15 


H 


14 


18 


18 


13 


14 


4.26- 4.50 


19 


20 


21 


15 


21 


14 


9 


4-51- 4-75 


11 


16 


12 


22 


16 


18 


13 


4.76- 5.00 


10 


8 


11 


11 


9 


16 


17 


5.01- 5.25 


7 


12 


14 


10 


17 


20 


13 


5.26- 5.50 


6 


7 


8 


9 


6 


12 


20 


5-51- 5-75 


I 


4 


7 


8 


10 


13 


18 


5.76- 6.00 


5 


1 


4 


5 


3 


9 


8 


6.01- 6.25 


2 


3 


3 


3 


2 


4 


10 


6.26- 6.50 


2 


4 


2 


4 


4 


5 


5 


6.51- 6.75 




1 


3 


4 


6 


3 


6 


6.76- 7.00 






2 


4 


2 


6 


5 


7.01- 7.25 




2 


3 


2 


3 


5 


5 


7.26- 7.50 








1 


1 


4 


6 


7-5i- 7-75 






1 


1 


2 


3 


4 


7.76- 8.00 








1 






2 


8.01- 8.25 




1 








2 


3 


8.26- 8.50 


1 










1 




8.51- 8.75 




1 


2 


1 


3 




3 


8.76- 9.00 








2 




2 




9.01- 9.25 












1 


2 


9.26- 9.50 














1 


9-5i- 9-75 












2 




9.76-10.00 












1 


2 


10.01-10.25 










1 






10.26-10.50 














1 


Total 


153 


178 


193 


195 


199 


204 


2JJ 


75 percentile 


$4-65 


$4-74 


$5-oi 


$5-i6 


$5-i5 


?5-6p 


$6.04 


Median 


4.04 


4.09 


4.19 


4-34 


4-33 


4.86 


5-14 



68 Compiled from Financial Statistics of Cities. 



104 



A School Building Program for Cities 



and hence do not offer an adequate basis for comparisons with 
northern cities. 

By taking the per capita expenditures for six years for three 
cities, the school buildings of which are rated in Table XLIII and 

TABLE LXII 

Per Capita Expenditures 69 for All School Purposes of 
Grand Rapids and Eighteen Selected Cities 60 





1900 


IOIO 


IQII 


1Q12 


1913 


1915 


Des Moines 


$5-82 


$6.41 


$7.16 


$6.71 


$7.26 


$7.62 


Scranton 


4.21 


4.27 


4-45 


4-58 


449 


4.69 


Paterson 


4.24 


4.O9 


3-76 


4-13 


4-38 


4-57 


Fall River 


3-57 


3-95 


4.06 


4.21 


4.16 


5.18 


Lowell 


4.00 


3-89 


3-94 


4-«3 


3-98 


4-30 


Grand Rapids 


4.90 


4.48 


4.71 


5-34 


5.21 


5-89 


Cambridge 


4.86 


5.01 


4.92 


5 -03 


5-H 


5-72 


Lynn 


376 


3-89 


3-96 


4.11 


4.02 


449 


New Bedford 


3-67 


3-96 


4.14 


4-56 


4.41 


4.70 


Springfield, Mass. 


6.15 


6-43 


6.86 


7.27 


7.07 


8.24 


Kansas City 


444 


5-29 


4.28 


4.66 


4.22 


6.18 


Nashville 


4.28 


2.62 


3.21 


3-44 


340 


3-89 


Albany 


3-84 


3-98 


4.07 


4-19 


4.17 


4.80 


Bridgeport 


3-07 


3.01 


2.96 


3.26 


3-29 


3-99 


Dayton 


4-97 


4-32 


4-51 


4.21 


4-15 


449 


San Antonio 


2.74 


2.76 


2.96 


3-o8 


3-31 


4-13 


Memphis 


2-49 


2.88 


3-13 


346 


3-39 


3-74 


Birmingham 


2.32 


2.07 


2.96 


2.80 


2.66 


309 


Richmond 


2-34 


2-34 


2-54 


2.93 


2.89 


4.09 



comparing with the medians of Table LXI, we find that Paterson 
varies only slightly from the medians of the six years, that St. Paul 
has fallen below the median for all years except 1909, and that 
Omaha varies between the seventy-five percentile and the median. 
In 1916 Omaha was only a trifle above the median, though above 
the seventy-five percentile in 1914 and 1915. In other words, rea- 
sonable additional sums paid for school purposes in these three 
cities would tend to place them among cities of the fourth quartile, 

69 Data from Financial Statistics of Cities. 

m Cities used in the Grand Rapids Survey, 1916. 



Financing a Building Program 



105 



or those most generous in their appropriations for schools on a basis 
of the amounts spent for each city inhabitant. 

Cost Per Pupil in Average Daily Attendance 

It is conceivable that a city might devote a relatively small pro- 
portion of its available revenue for schools and still maintain them 

Fig. 7 

variations in rankings of eighteen cities for a period of six 

years, obtained on the basis of the expenditures 

per inhabitant for all school purposes 

Rank in. 
Group 



5 
6 

7 
8 

9 
JO 
II 
12 

13 
14 

*5 
J6 

17 
18 

19 




io6 



A School Building Program for Cities 



adequately by virtue of the very large amount of money raised 
by taxation. The possibility of maintaining an adequate system 
of schools is, however, determined in large measure by the amount 
of money spent per pupil in average daily attendance. 

The distribution of cities in the United States during the years 
1909 and 1 916, as given in Table LXIV according to the amounts 
spent per pupil in average daily attendance, might well furnish a 
basis for establishing the position of any individual city in its 
tendency to pay for educational advantages. 

The basic data used in the compilation of this table were the 
expenditures for maintenance as listed in the annual reports of the 
United States Commissioner of Education for the years repre- 
sented in the table and the average daily attendance as given for 
each year in these same reports. 

TABLE LXIII 

Per Capita Expenditures for All School Purposes of Three 

Cities — Paterson, St. Paul, and Omaha 



Years 


IQOQ 


1910 


IQ1I 


IQI2 


1913 


1915 


1916 


Paterson 
St. Paul 
Omaha 


$4.24 

5-32 
4.81 


$4.09 
4.04 
474 


$3-76 
3-98 
4.92 


$4-13 
4.12 

5-07 


$4-38 
4.02 
4-99 


$4-57 
4.72 

5-93 


$4.76 
4-43 
5-29 



An analysis of the original data clearly indicated that if the 
cities in the United States were separated into three groups accord- 
ing to their geographic location, three distinctly different tenden- 
cies in expenditures for public education would become evident. 
These tendencies are shown clearly in Table LXV, which gives the 
medians for each of the three groups as well as the number of cities 
for each group upon whose data the medians are based. Cities in 
Group A are those north of the Mason and Dixon's line and the Ohio 
River and east of the Mississippi River. Group B includes all cities 
above 25,000 west of the Mississippi except those of the four states 
specifically mentioned in C. Group C includes all cities south of 
the Ohio River and Mason and Dixon's line and in the states 
of Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. 

The medians of Group B are the highest for each year, those of 
Group A occupy an intermediary position, while those of Group C 
are exceedingly low. 



Financing a Building Program 



107 



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io8 



A School Building Program for Cities 



The trend throughout the United States has been markedly up- 
ward in the cost per pupil in average daily attendance for the years 
represented. A city which occupies a relatively low position on the 
distribution in Table LXV, because of either false or true economy, 
should have no difficulty in raising funds for any needed extension 
to its school plant. A city which has been generous in its expendi- 
tures or has failed to economize properly, and hence ranks high in 
this distribution, should not penalize its children by failing to 
provide the necessary school building extensions. Possible econ- 
omies in school maintenance may be found where the high cost of 
maintenance is presented as an argument against provisions for 
proper building additions. Further analyses of how the money 
spent for school maintenance has been distributed among the 
several items of the school budget as compared with other cities 
will throw light on the points of wastage within the system. It 
may be stated, however, that school maintenance costs may be 
expected to continue on the increase. 



TABLE LXV 

Medians of the Amount Spent for School Maintenance Per Pupil in 

Average Daily Attendance for the Years i 907-191 6 for all 

Cities Having a Population of 25,000 or Over 62 





Total number of cities 


in 


Median city in 


Years 


Group 
A 


Group 
B 


Group 
C 


Total 


Group 
A 


Group 
B 


Group 
C 


Total 


1907-1908 


125 


31 


32 


188 


$3344 


$37-94 


$24.89 


$33-12 


I 908-I 909 


131 


32 


26 


189 


3344 


37-67 


25.29 


33-31 


1909-1910 


118 


29 


26 


173 


3478 


40-38 


26.71 


34-46 


1910-1911 


98 


28 


19 


145 


36.00 


42.25 


28.50 


35-94 


1911-1912 


120 


33 


27 


180 


37.82 


45.06 


28.92 


37-45 


1912-1913 


124 


38 


32 


194 


38.70 


45-38 


28.OO 


38.64 


1913-1914 


131 


35 


28 


194 


3940 


49.21 


3I-56 


39-39 


1914-1915 


125 


36 


28 


189 


40.79 


51-42 


30.OO 


40-95 


1915-1916 


136 


36 


33 


205 


43.21 


52.25 


31-31 


42.76 



62 Group A includes cities north of the Ohio River and Mason and Dixon's line, but 
east of the Mississippi River. 

Group B includes cities west of the Mississippi River, except those of Texas, Arkan- 
sas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. 

Group C includes all southern cities east of the Mississippi River and the cities of 
Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. 



Financing a Building Program 109 

Expenditures for Capital Outlays in Cities of the United States 
for the Period i8gg-igi6 

In an effort to show the expenditures for school outlays in cities 
of the United States on a comparable basis, Table LXVI has been 
formed. The term school outlays covers "the costs of properties, 
including land, buildings and equipment, and improvements more 
or less permanent in character." 63 The cost data were taken from 

TABLE LXVI 

Distribution of Per Capita Expenditures for School Outlays 
for 206 Cities for Total Period, 1899-1916 

Amount No. of Cities 

$o-$i.99 6 

2- 3-99 " 

4- 5-99 11 

6- 7-99 9 

8- 9.99 21 

10-11.99 15 

12-13.99 20 

14-15.99 29 

I6-I7.99 I 2 

I8-I9.99 • • 18 

20-21.99 17 

22-23.99 8 

24-25.99 12 

26-27.99 5 

28-29.99 4 

30-31.99 3 

32-33-99 2 

34-35-99 2 

36-37-99 o 

38-39.99 

40-41.99 . 1 

Total 206 

25 Percentile $9-33 

Median 14.68 

75 Percentile 20.24 

63 Financial Statistics of Cities, 1916, p. 28. 



no 



A School Building Program for Cities 



the annual reports of the Commissioner of Education from columns 
headed 'permanent investments and lasting improvements', 'build- 
ings and other permanent improvements, sites and grounds' as they 
appeared for various years, and 'outlays, new buildings, grounds 
and equipment', which is the more recently used heading for this 
item of expenditure. The United States Census figures for the 
years 1900-1910 were utilized in securing the per capita costs. 
The population for the years between census periods was reckoned 
for each city by adding a proportional amount of the growth of the 
passing decade to the figures obtained by the census enumerators 
at the beginning of each decade. 

The total per capita expenditure for the period involved in the 
table is considered a fair index of the provisions that have been 
made for that period in adequate school housing. Such a tabulation 
made for the city of St. Paul showed St. Paul ranking twenty-third 
out of twenty-five cities of her class in the per capita expenditures 
for school outlays over a period of fifteen years. This failure to 
build new school buildings was again evidenced in the low scores 
assigned by the judges to the existing school buildings of that city, 
as shown in Table XLIII. 

TABLE LXVII 



Total Per Capita Expenditures for School Outlays from 1899 to 191 5 
in St. Paul and Twenty-four Other Cities 



Cincinnati 


$20.29 


Oakland 


$33-14 


Newark 


26.34 


Toledo 


19.49 


Washington 


22.10 


Worcester 


12.61 


Minneapolis 


23-50 


Syracuse 


12.57 


Seattle 


3247 


New Haven 


15.46 


Jersey City 


21.65 


Scranton 


12.69 


Kansas City, Mo. 


28.64 


Spokane 


35-15 


Indianapolis 


15-59 


Paterson 


15.28 


Portland, Ore. 


3540 


Omaha 


20.11 


Denver 


19.24 


Fall River 


10.65 


Rochester 


15.24 


Grand Rapids 


17.60 


Providence 


9.68 


Highest 


35-40 


St. Paul 


11.09 


Lowest 


9.68 


Columbus 


n-35 


Average 


19.89 



Financing a Building Program 1 1 1 

2. PAYMENT FOR NEW SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

The cost of permanent improvements in American school sys- 
tems has been chiefly met in the past by four different plans: 
i. By cash payment made possible by taxation additional to that 
required for maintenance purposes. 

2. By the issuance of bonds maturing at the end of a stated period 

of years, payment being made by a refunding of such bonds. 

3. By the issuance of bonds falling due at a stated interval, pay- 

ment to be met through the establishment of a sinking fund. 

4. By the issuance of serial bonds, the last payment falling due in 

from ten to forty years. 

The plan of paying cash for school buildings is not readily ac- 
cepted by communities, since the opinion prevails that in the case 
of permanent improvements, the life of which will extend over a 
period of years, not only the generation that builds but also the 
generations that utilize such structures should be required to pay 
their fair share of the initial cost. Ithaca, New York, may be cited 
as a splendid example of communities that have been found willing 
to pay for new school buildings by special taxation covering a period 
of five years, thus obviating the necessity for bond issues and the 
annual interest item for inclusion in the budget. Through a series 
of misfortunes, Ithaca found herself in need of new school accommo- 
dations. The plan of payment pursued is here given as outlined by 
Superintendent Boynton. 

After one month's public discussion in the press and otherwise, it was 
voted two to one at a public tax election to build a new high and grammar 
school building to cost $300,000, $250,000 of which was to be raised by direct 
taxation in a single assessment, the other $50,000 being insurance money. 

By a special act of the legislature affecting this city, the individual tax 
might be paid in five equal annual installments, the four deferred payments to 
bear interest at five per cent. Any person not desiring to avail himself of the 
deferred payments might pay his entire tax in a single payment without such 
penalty. The rate for this special tax was $25 per thousand. This $25 per 
thousand was the total increase required for the $250,000 tax and was dis- 
tributed over the five years for those who took the deferred payments but was 
included in one year for those who paid the tax at one time. 

It cannot be expected that many communities will follow such 
a splendid example as has been set by cities like Ithaca. The ten- 
dency of postponing payments for municipal improvements has 



112 A School Building Program for Cities 

developed with so little opposition in our cities that the change to 
a cash basis or a complete 'pay as you go' policy will only come 
gradually. Cities which are growing with extreme rapidity can 
be assured that the 'pay as you go' policy is the only fair one to 
adopt toward future generations. Where the life of a city has been 
short and the needs in the way of permanent improvements are 
becoming, because of the rapidly increasing population, more and 
more acute, obviously the 'pay as you go' policy is the only busi- 
nesslike procedure to adopt. 

Superintendent R. G. Jones in his Review of the Rockford, Illinois 
Schools of igi^-igi6, u presents a tabulation showing the differ- 
ence in costs when paying for five schools on a cash basis and a 
twenty-year serial bond basis. These figures are "based upon these 
assumptions: (i) that the city of Rockford will grow as rapidly 
during the next fifteen years as it has in the past fifteen; (2) that 
the assessed valuation will increase as much during the next fifteen 
years as it has in the past fifteen; (3) that the school population 
will increase in the same ratio during the next fifteen years as it 
has during the past." 

Mr. Jones estimates that on this basis the total cost of these five 
buildings for each $100 of assessed valuation will be $2.3394 if the 
bond plan is followed, and $2.3248, or a trifle less, if the cash basis 
is utilized. 

The second of the plans utilized in the past in the payment for 
new school buildings has nothing to commend it. It is an extremely 
unbusinesslike practice to refund when school bonds become due, 
and leads to a multitude of schemes and expedients for concealment 
of the real purpose for refunding. 

The provisions covering the payment of bonded indebtedness 
in Massachusetts cities are "based upon the theory that municipali- 
ties should be required to pay their debts as soon as possible. 
Failure to recognize the wisdom of this policy is certain to spell 
financial disaster sooner or later for a city or town, for experience 
has proven that the taxpayers of each generation have sufficient 
burdens of their own without being obliged to carry those of their 
predecessors." 65 The 'pay as you go' policy is being recognized as 

64 p. 19. 

66 Report of a Special Investigation Relative to the Indebtedness of the Cities and Towns 
of the Commonwealth, Wright & Potter Printing Co., Boston, 1912, p. 21. 



Financing a Building Program 113 

necessary for the future solvency and progress of a city. Portland, 
Ore., Denver, Washington, Louisville, and New Orleans have 
resorted to this plan in the payment for new school buildings. 

The practice of amortizing the bonded obligations of school 
systems by means of a sinking fund has been rather common. The 
two types 66 of sinking funds found in American cities are those with 
and those without investments. Judging from studies that have 
been made of the administration of sinking funds, it appears that 
neither type of fund is satisfactory in providing payment for bonds. 
The prevailing criticisms against the sinking fund plan are (1) the 
misuse of sinking fund moneys on the part of public officials, (2) 
the unscientific basis employed in the calculation of sinking fund 
requirements, (3) the difficulty of instructing the public in the 
complex nature of sinking fund plans, (4) the failure to provide for 
proper investment of funds, (5) the inability of a democracy to 
constantly provide the financial leadership necessary for the 
proper maintenance of the fund, (6) the failure to establish a 
proper fund and to make adequate annual contributions thereto 
so that there would be a sufficient amount in the fund to meet the 
debt at maturity, (7) the failure of proper audits by others than 
the governing parties, (8) the success of the serial payment plan 
of bonding and its ease of comprehension by the public, (9) the lack 
of appreciation on the part of governing bodies of the importance 
of sinking fund obligations — the primal security of the bond holder. 

The following quotations show the general attitude toward the 
sinking fund plan : 

Even when the greatest care is exercised in the conduct of sinking funds, 
the best measures that can be followed either fall short of meeting the require- 
ments or overshoot the mark. This is inevitably consequent upon the uneven 
amounts and periods in which the funds lie uninvested and at best yield only 
bank interest on idle deposits. Sinking funds conducted upon scientific 
principles and taking advantage of all established mathematical laws of annui- 
ties and averages invariably come very close to providing the required 
amount. They are never exact, however, and only by the exercise of extreme 
care and watchfulness by experts in such matters can a close approximation 
be secured. Moreover, there are being constantly uncovered in the revision 
of public accounting methods and procedure sinking fund schemes con- 
ducted so irrationally and with such disregard of mathematical rudiments 

66 Financial Statistics of Cities, 1916, p. 100. 



H4 A School Building Program for Cities 

as to lose all value and significance. They are merely spasmodic and wild 
guesses at the requirements and reflect no coordinate provision whatever. 67 

A sinking fund, however well it may be administered, is at best a cumber- 
some means of accomplishing the desired end, since it involves not only the 
obligation to keep the funds properly invested, but complicated mathematical 
computations to insure equitable assessments upon the taxpayers during the 
period of the loan in order that the debt may be paid at maturity ; and the 
evidence is abundant of the establishment of sinking funds by our Massa- 
chusetts cities and towns, doubtless in good faith, to which proper contribu- 
tions have not been made from year to year, with the result that upon the 
maturity of the loans these funds are found to be far short of the amount 
necessary to pay the debt, with extension by refunding as the inevitable 
result. The serial method of paying debt, on the other hand, not only obvi- 
ates the administrative requirements of the sinking fund method, but it has 
been demonstrated to be cheaper than the latter and it, therefore, imposes 
a lighter burden upon the taxpayers, in the long run; not the least of its 
advantages also is the fact that its operation is so simple as to be easily 
understood by the ordinary citizen. 68 

Investors have come to realize the uncertainty of the sinking fund, as 
administered by public officials, to provide a stable means for the payment 
of bonds they hold, and consequently are demanding a more positive form 
of payment. 69 

Officials are becoming convinced that it is financially inadvisable to main- 
tain sinking funds with investments and are advocating funds of the second 
class or the issue of serial bonds so maturing as to obviate the necessity of 
any kind of sinking fund. It is to be noted in this connection that of the 
twenty-five cities with no sinking funds in 1916 the majority reported no 
funded obligations other than serial bonds.™ 

Table LXVIII 71 shows the importance that must be attached to 
the proper administration of the educational debt problem. Of 
all total non-productive debts listed in the table, it will be seen that 
the most remarkable increase during the period 1880-1912 occurred 
in the debt for educational purposes. This increase was from two 
per cent to eleven per cent of the total debt. The increase on no 
other single item approaches this amount. 

67 The Daily Bond Buyer, March 26, 191 7. 

68 A Special Investigation Relative to the Indebtedness of the Cities and Towns of the 
Commonwealth, Boston, 1912, p. 23. 

69 Report of the Commission for the Survey of Municipal Financing, Trenton, N. J. 

70 Financial Statistics of Cities, 1916, p. 101. 

71 The Purposes of Indebtedness of American Cities, 1880-1917, Bureau of Municipal 
Research, New York. 



Financing a Building Program 



115 



The serial bond plan overcomes most of the objections already 
enumerated. The short-term serial bond method is being more 
generally accepted as the best plan for financing school buildings 
which cannot be paid for by immediate taxation. The data of 
Table LXIX show clearly the method of payment for a ten-year 
serial bond issue of $3,000,000. 



TABLE LXVIII 
Changes in the Total Debt for Specific Purposes (1880 to 1912) 





Number of 


Per c 


apita 


Per cent of 




cities 


burden 


total debt 


Purpose 
















IQI2 


1880 


1012 


1880 


IQI2 


1880 


Total indebtedness 


195 


59 


90.58 


69.21 


IOO 


100 


Total productive debt 


159 


43 


28.63 


16.99 


31.6 


24-5 


Water-works 


145 


39 


16.22 


14.48 


17.9 


20.9 


Improvement of waterways 


21 


20 


4-15 


I.81 


4.6 


2.6 


Electric and gas 


23 


1* 


•52 


.68 


.6 


1.0 


Cemeteries 


IO 


6 


.01 


.02 






All other 


.68 


22 


11.89 


1.83 


I3-I 


2.6 


Total nonproductive debt 


195 


57 


6i.95 


52.22 


68.4 


75-5 


Educational 


187 


28 


10.76 


i-39 


11.9 


2.0 


Recreation 


123 


19 


5-36 


4.98 


5-9 


7.2 


Highways 


168 


3i 


10.20 


9.07 


11. 2 


12.9 


Sewers 


161 


30 


5-96 


2.30 


6.6 


3-5 


Bridges 


104 


18 


3-43 


2.40 


3-8 


3-5 


Buildings 


86 


36 


2-34 


2.74 


2.6 


4.0 


Protection 


113 


13 


1.25 


.26 


1.4 


•4 


War 


* 


24 


* 


3-31 


* 


4.8 


Railroads and other aid 


* 


30 


* 


5-7i 


* 


8-3 


Funding 


82 


39 


7-15 


ii-45 


8.0 


16.5 


Refunding 


85 


30 


3.81 


6.36 


4.2 


9.2 


Miscellaneous (all purposes) 


* 


19 


* 


2.25 


* 


3-2 


Combined and unreported: 














Funded 


123 


* 


4-25 


* 


4-7 


* 


Special assessment 


41 


* 


3-14 


* 


3-4 


* 


Miscellaneous (general) 


115 


* 


3-99 


* 


4.6 


* 


Municipal industries 


18 


* 


•30 


* 


•3 


* 



Items not included among separate items in the year indicated. 



n6 



A School Building Program for Cities 



The serial bond plan causes the heaviest payments to be made 
in the early years. If the heavier payments are made early, it will 
permit of greater improvements in the years to come. The serial 
bond plan is simple, is easily understood by all citizens, and offers 
no administrative difficulties. 

The 'recommendation made by the Director of the Bureau of 
Statistics of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in his special 
investigation above mentioned that cities be authorized to incur 
debt for the acquiring of land and the building of schools within a 
twenty-year period only and that towns be required hereafter to 
provide for the payment of funded debt by the serial method, so 
called, is a recommendation that may be followed with profit by 
any board of education in paying for its building program. In 
Sections 5, 13, and 14 of the Municipal Indebtedness Act of 1913 of 
Massachusetts, these suggestions have become law. 

Section 5. Cities and towns may incur debt, within the limit of indebted- 
ness prescribed in this act, for the following purposes, and payable within 
the periods . . . specified. 

3. For acquiring land for any purpose . . . and for the construction 
of buildings . . . including the cost of original equipment and furnishing, 
twenty years. 

LXIX 

Cost of a Bond Issue of $3,ooo,ooo-Serial Ten- Year 
Bonds with Interest at four Per Cent 



Year 


Annual payments 

on a 10-year 4 per cent 

basis 


Annual interest 
at 4 per cent 


Amount to be raised by 

taxation each year 

plus interest 


1919 


$300,000 


$120,000 


$420,000 


1920 


300,000 


108,000 


408,000 


1921 


300,000 


96,000 


396,000 


1922 


300,000 


84,000 


384,000 


1923 


300,000 


72,000 


372,000 


1924 


300,000 


60,000 


360,000 


1925 


300,000 


48,000 


348,000 


1926 


300,000 


36,000 


336,000 


1927 


300,000 


24,000 


324,000 


1928 


300,000 


12,000 


312,000 


Total 


$3,000,000 


$660,000 


$3,660,000 



Financing a Building Program 117 

4. For the construction of additions to schoolhouses . . . including 
the cost of original equipment and furnishings, where such additions increase 
the floor space of said buildings to which such additions are made, twenty 
years. 

Section 13. No further sinking funds for the payment of debt shall be 
established by any city or town. . . 

Section 14. Cities and towns shall not issue any notes payable on demand, 
and they shall provide for the payment of all debts ... by such annual 
payments as will extinguish the same at maturity, and so that the first of such 
annual payments on account of any loan shall be made not later than one 
year after the date of the bonds or notes issued therefor, and so that the 
amount of such annual payments in any year on account of such debts, so 
far as issued, shall not be less than the amount of principal payable in any 
subsequent year, and such annual amount, together with the interest on all 
debts, shall, without further vote, be assessed until the debt is extin- 
guished. . . . 

The New Jersey Commission for the Survey of Municipal Finan- 
cing reported in 191 5 strongly in favor of the serial bond. They 
found: 

From an exhaustive investigation that the installment payment bond, 
commonly known as the 'Serial Bond', is invariably displacing the term bond, 
with sinking fund provisions for payment. The operation of this plan is 
simple and yet most positive, and will prove a more economical and efficient 
means of financing public requirements. 

Bond houses, investors and the officials of municipalities who have given 
this matter serious thought, recommend serial bonds for financing debt 
obligations. 

The favorable price at which serial bonds have sold in the past year proves 
their economic market value, and adds conclusive proof to the favor that this 
form of bond has with the buyers of municipal securities. 

The serial plan does away with all the perplexities and risks of collecting, 
investing, and safeguarding the sinking fund. It eliminates the long chain 
of 'ifs' that are present in the sinking fund plan. It provides a means of 
financing public obligations, with constantly decreasing carrying charges, 
and will go a long way toward putting municipalities on a 'Pay as you go' 
basis. . . 

The serial bond embodies all the principles of sound financing, simplifies 
the administration of public affairs, and will prove a most efficient means of 
doing away with the refunding bond. 

■ Table LXX shows the annual payments and total cost of an issue of 
30-year $100,000 bonds bearing 4^ per cent interest, under the sinking fund 
and serial plans of payment. The comparisons are analyzed as follows: 



n8 A School Building Program for Cities 

Difference in total cash outlay on 3>£ per cent sinking fund basis is 
$23,363.90 equal to $8,323.45 compounded at 3^ per cent, i. e., Term Bonds 
should sell at $1.08323, to make the outlay cost on equal terms with serial 
bonds at par. 

Difference in total cash outlay on 4 per cent sinking fund basis is $17,740.30 
equal to $5,777-54 compounded at 4 per cent, i. e., Term Bonds should sell 
at $1.05777 to make the outlay cost on equal terms with serial bonds at par. 

There is no difficulty in discovering abuses of the serial plan form 
of payment for school housing. When bonds have been issued for 
too long a period such abuses may occur. Even though the last of 
a bond issue still remains to be paid, the chief executive frequently 
finds it necessary to recommend the complete abandonment or 
rehabilitation of the building for which the bonds were originally 
issued. This is one reason why short term issues preferably for ten 
years or less, never above fifteen years, seem the wisest. 

No bond issue should be permitted which will outlive the im- 
provement or building itself. The need for such a policy is recog- 
nized by at least one state in its state laws relating to public edu- 
cation. Texas permits bonds issued for school building purposes 
to run forty years, but where the school-house is built of wood the 
bonds may not run longer than twenty years. Of forty-five states 
twenty-five 72 had in January, 19 13, laws on their statute books 
determining the maximum life of bonds that might be issued by 
school district, town, or city. Of the twenty-five cases noted, the 
maximum life in three instances was forty years. In one case 
thirty-four years, in two cases thirty years, in three cases twenty- 
five years, in ten cases twenty years, in five cases fifteen years, and 
in one case ten years. The minimum life was also established in 
some of these laws. In one case, i. e., New Mexico, directors of 
school districts may not issue bonds for erecting and completing 
school-houses to run "not less than twenty years nor more than 
thirty years." In two cases, ten years is set as the minimum life 
of bonds, while in school districts in South Dakota "no bond, shall 
be payable in less than three nor more than fifteen years." 

The actual practice which communities in the United States have 
followed during this past year 191 7 in regard to the life of school 
bond issues is. presented in Table LXXI. This table includes 

72 Hood's Digest of Slate Laws Relating to Public Education, United States Bureau 
of Education, Bulletin No. 47, 1915, p. 325 f. 



Financing a Building Program 



119 



bonds issued for all educational purposes. Straight bonds are those 
falling due at the end of a period of years. In reading the serial 
bond section of the table it must be borne in mind that the period 

TABLE LXX 73 

Comparisons of $100,000 30- Year \)4 per Cent Bonds Under the 
Sinking Fund and Serial Plans of Payment 



End 
of year 


Annual payments with 
3/4 per cent sinking fund 


Annual payment with 
4 per cent sinking fund 


Annual payment for 
serial bonds 


basis for term bonds 


basis for term bonds 


I 


$6,437-13 


$6,283.01 


$7,833-33 


2 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


7,683.33 


3 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


7.533-33 


4 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


7,383-33 


5 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


7,233-33 


6 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


7,083.33 


7 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


6,933-33 


8 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


6,783-33 


9 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


6,633.33 


10 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


6,48333 


11 


6,437 


13 


6,283,01 


6,333-33 


12 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


6,183.33 


13 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


6,033.33 


14 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


5,883.33 


15 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


5,733-33 


16 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


5,583-33 


17 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


5,433-33 


18 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


5,283.33 


19 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


5,133-33 


20 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


4,983-33 


21 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


4,833-33 


22 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


4,683.33 


23 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


4,533-33 


24 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


4,383-33 


25 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


4,233-33 


26 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


4,083.33 


27 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


3,933-33 


28 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


3,783-33 


29 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


3,633-33 


30 


6,437 


13 


6,283.01 


3,483-33 




$193,113.90 


$188,490.30 


$169,750.00 



73 Report of the New Jersey Commission for the Survey of Municipal Financing, 1915. 



120 



A School Building Program for Cities 



i-io includes serial bonds running from 3-8 years, 4-9 years, etc. 
The period 1-20 years would in like manner include 5-15 years, 6-18 
years, etc., serial issues. The table points out that many school 
systems are still issuing bonds running for periods of upwards of 
fifteen years. 

State laws have also attempted to regulate the rate of interest 
at which bonds may be sold, decreeing at the same time that no 
bonds should be sold at less than par. The maximum interest rate 
determined upon by statute varies from four per cent in our eastern 
states to eight per cent in the western states. The actual rates of 
interest designated on 1,560 issues of school bonds of the year 1917 
varied, as is seen in Table LXXII from 3H per cent to 6 per cent. 
The average for all 1917 issues was 4.973 per cent; the median was 5 
per cent. Of these bonds, a very large majority were sold at par or 
slightly above. The distribution is given in this table according to 



TABLE LXXI 
School Bond Issues of 191 7 — Distributed by Terms of Years 













Term of 


years 














Amount of issue 








Straight bonds 






Serial bonds 




























Total 




0-5 


6—10 


11-15 


16-20 


21-25 


26-30 


31-35 


36-40 


Total 


1-10 


1-20 


1-30 


1-40 


Less than $4,999 


58 


61 


38 


27 


3 


1 






188 


20 


10 




1 


219 


$5,ooo-$£>,999 


29 


36 


32 


33 


4 


8 




1 


143 


8 


21 


3 




175 


10,000-19,999 


19 


43 


35 


51 


10 


8 


1 


1 


168 


11 


35 


4 


4 


222 


20,000-29,999 


6 


36 


35 


33 


7 


4 




2 


123 




16 


5 




144 


30.000-49,999 


8 


3i 


36 


25 


6 


10 






116 


3 


10 


3 


4 


136 


50,000-99,999 


4 


14 


35 


34 


19 


7 


1 


3 


117 


1 


15 


9 


5 


147 


100,000-199,999 


7 


10 


17 


24 


5 


6 


1 




70 


3 


8 


2 


2 


85 


200,000-299,999 


2 


2 


5 


2 


2 


5 




5 


18 




1 


3 


2 


24 


300,000-399,999 


1 


1 


2 


1 








1 


6 






I 




7 


400,000-499,999 






1 


I 










2 






1 




3 


500,000-599,999 






1 


1 










2 




2 


1 


2 


7 


600,000-699,999 
























1 




1 


700,000-799,999 








2 










2 










2 


800,000-899,999 






























900,000-999,999 












1 






1 










1 


1,000,000- 






























1,499,999 






























1,500,000- 






























1,999,999 


1 
















1 




1 






2 




135 


234 


237 


234 


56 


50 


3 


8 


957 


46 


119 


33 


20 


1,175 



Average term of years for all except serial bonds, 13.15. 
Median term of years for all except serial bonds, 13.31- 
Compiled from Municipal Bond Sales, 1917, New York City. 



TABLELXXII: 



Financing a Building Program 121 

School Bonds Issued in 1917 — Distributed by Amounts of 
Issue and Rates of Interest 



Amount 


Rate of interest 


of issue 


3-5 


3.65 


4 


4-125 


4.2 


4-25 


4-4 


4-5 


4-55 


4-7 


4-75 


5 


5.1 


5-14 


5.25 


5-5 


6 


Total 


Less than 






































$4,999 






32 










13 






2 


335 






1 


13 


75 


471 


5,000 






































9,999 






15 






2 




17 






2 


121 








6 


60 


223 


10,000 






































19,999 






13 






3 




42 






6 


119 






1 


19 


42 


245 


20,000 






































29,999 






12 






3 


1 


36 






5 


92 








8 


IS 


172 


30,000 






































49,999 






11 






2 


1 


41 






2 


78 








3 


10 


148 


50,000 






































99,999 


1 


1 


16 


1 


1 


5 


1 


44 




1 


5 


79 










5 


160 


100,000 






































199,999 






8 






6 


1 


30 


2 




3 


37 


1 


1 




1 


1 


91 


200,000 






































299,999 






4 


I 




4 




6 






1 


8 


1 










25 


300,000 






































399,999 






3 










4 




















7 


400,000 






































499,999 












2 




2 










I 










5 


500,000 






































599,999 






1 










3 








,3 












7 


600,000 






































699,999 
















1 




















1 


700,000 






































799,999 






1 


















1 












2 


800,000 






































899,999 






































900,000 






































999,999 






1 






























1 


1,000,000 






































1,499,999 






































1,500,000 






































1,999,999 


1 






1 




























2 


Total 


2 


1 


117 


3 


1 


27 


4 


239 


2 


1 


27 


873 


2 


1 


2 


50 


208 


r,56"o 



122 



A School Building Program for Cities 



the amounts of issue. Evidently issues of small amounts carry 
higher interest rates. 

Table LXXIII brings out clearly the sectional variations in 
these rates throughout the United States. 

TABLE LXXIII 74 
Sectional Rates of Interest on School Bond Issues 





Number of 


Average rate 


Lowest 


Highest 




reported 


of interest 


rate of interest 


rate of interest 


New England States 


36 


4.27 


4 


4 Z A 


Middle Atlantic States 


158 


4-58 


3K 


6 


South Eastern States 


106 


5-40 


3H 


6 


Central States 


308 


4.80 


3-65 


6 


West of Mississippi 


939 


5-09 


4 


6 


United States 


1,560 


4-973 


3^ 


6 



Where legal statute provides certain limitations as to the amount 
of educational debt permissible, serious difficulties may be en- 
countered in the financing of a school building program. 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has found that where 
restrictions have been placed upon the incurring of funded debt of 
cities through general statute, the number of special acts demanded 
by communities for exemption from the burden of the statute has 
practically vitiated the restriction. 75 Where the limitation is ex- 
pressed in terms of percentages of total valuations, the remedy is 
clear where one hundred per cent valuations are not the practice. 
That limitations on a local debt are desirable will not be denied. 
If the limitation is reasonable and already reached the 'pay as you 
go' policy might be a possible solution where no general or special 
per capita tax limit has been written upon the statute books. 

From Table LXXIV it seems reasonable to infer that American 
communities are not burdening themselves with too excessive debt 
burdens for school buildings. The funded debts for American cities 
incurred in the erection of school buildings ranged at the end of 

74 Compiled from Municipal Bond Sales, 191 7, New York. 

75 Report of a Special Investigation Relative to the Indebtedness of the Cities and Towns 
of the Commonwealth, Boston, 1912, p. 19 ff. 



Financing a Building Program 



123 



the calendar year 1916 from $23,000 in Charleston, S. C, to $121,- 
110,894 m New York City. The median point on this distribution 
is approximately $610,000. The medians of this table may rightly 



TABLE LXXIV 

Funded Debt Incurred in the Erection of School Buildings 
as Existing in 1916 76 





In cities whose population in iqi6 was 






500,000 


300,000 


100,000 


50,000 


30,000 




Dates of 


and 


to 


to 


to 


to 


Total 




over 


500,000 


500,000 


100,000 


100,000 




Less than $100,000 






1 


5 


5 


11 


$100,001- 300,000 








8 


33 


4i 


300,001- 500,000 








12 


24 


36 


500,001- 700,000 






3 


9 


15 


27 


700,001- 900,000 






4 


6 


4 


14 


900,001- 1,100,000 






4 


5 


1 


10 


1,100,001- 1,300,000 






5 


5 


2 


12 


1,300,001- 1,500,000 






8 


6 




14 


1,500,001- 1,700,000 




1 


7 


1 




9 


1,700,001- 1,900,000 






1 


3 




4 


1,900,001- 2,100,000 






3 


1 




4 


2,100,001- 2,300,000 






1 


1 




2 


2,300,001- 2,500,000 















2,500,001- 2,700,000 















2,700,001- 2,900,000 















2,900,001- 3,100,000 















3,100,001- 4,000,000 


1 


1 


5 






7 


4,000,001- 5,000,000 




1 


1 






2 


5,000,001- 6,000,000 




2 








2 


6,000,001- 7,000,000 


1 










1 


7,000,001- 8,000,000 




1 


1 






2 


8,000,001- 9,000,000 


2 


3 








5 


9,000,001-10,000,000 















Over 10,000,000 


3 










3 


Total No. of Cities 


7 


9 


44 


62 


84 


206 


Median Points 77 


8,500,000 


5,500,000 


1,225,000 


633,000 


333,ooo 


610,000 



76 Compiled from Financial Statistics of Cities, 1916, 326^". 
77 Approximate 



124 



A School Building Program for Cities 



be used as measures in determining the advisability of extending a 
school building program by increasing the educational debt. 

In the final analysis of the ability of any community to pay, the 
following medians may be utilized as measures. A superintendent 
of schools who locates his own city in reference to the medians given 
on this table will find it profitable to use the rating obtained in pre- 
senting to his public the expenditures and financial needs of the 
school system which has been put into his charge. 



TABLE LXXV 

Medians of All Cities of 30,000 Population and Over on Various 
Financial Distributions, 1909-1916 



Year 


1909 


1910 


IQII 


1912 


1913 


1914 


1915 


1916 


Estimated true value of 


















per capita assessment 
















$1,087 


Tax rate per $1,000 of 


















estimated true value 


















of property 


$12.14 


$12.91 


$12.42 


$12.35 


$12.04 




$12.90 


$13-23 


Per capita tax levies 


$11.60 


$12.00 


$11-95 


$12.50 


•$12.53 




$14-11 


$14.18 


Per capita net debt 
















$42.65 


Per cent of city expenses 


















devoted to schools 


34-6 


35-4 


34-8 


35-2 


35-2 




35-9 


36.9 


Per capita governmental 


















cost payments of ex- 


















penses for schools 


$4.04 


$4.09 


$4-19 


$4-34 


$4-33 




$4.86 


$5-14 


Cost for school mainte- 


















nance per pupil in 


















average daily atten- 


















dance 


$33-31 


$33-46 


$35-94 


$37-45 


$38.64 


$39-39 


$40.95 


$42.76 


Per capita expenditure 


For 


entire 


period 


$14.84 


For 


entire 


period 




for capital outlays 




1899- 


1916 






1899- 


1916 




Average rate of interest 


















on school bonds 
















4-973% 


Bonded indebtedness in- 


















curred for school build- 


















ings 
















$610,000 



CONCLUSIONS 

Some of the underlying principles involved in developing school 
building programs have been reviewed in the foregoing pages. 
Public service corporations have in the past found it necessary to 
couple prognostications of population growth with far-sighted plan- 
ning in order that they might provide a maximum of service at a 
minimum of expenditure. The telephone companies of our large 
cities have been notable examples of such procedure. It has been 
the writer's experience that relatively few school systems, however, 
give consideration to their building needs except as the immediate 
demand for more accommodations occurs. 

Detailed studies of large school systems like those of St. Paul, 
Omaha, and Paterson, have pointed out that such a lack of planning 
has prevailed over the entire period during which the school plants 
were actually being constructed. The failure to recognize accepta- 
ble standards, the location of buildings without direct reference to 
future population or school needs, the failure to purchase adequate 
sites so that sufficient playground space could be provided for 
children, and especially the failure to purchase sites in advance, are 
evidences of the lack of any systematic building programs in these 
cities. 

The available literature on school building programs is very 
limited. The programs as outlined for Minneapolis, Milwaukee, 
St. Paul, Omaha, Framingham, and a few minor places, as men- 
tioned in the bibliography, are, as far as the writer has been able 
to ascertain, the only definite attempts to put into tangible form 
the anticipated building needs of school systems. The constantly 
increasing costs of school building construction, combined with the 
growing demand for economy and efficiency in education, have 
emphasized the need for the development of school building pro- 
grams in all of our cities. In this way only will unnecessary dupli- 
cation be avoided, building faults resulting from ignorance or 
haste be reduced to a minimum, and educational needs anticipated 
so that suitable and economical structures will be built. 



126 A School Building Program for Cities 

The writer has conceived a school building program as being 
divided into three major parts: first, the measurement of popula- 
tion; second, the measurement of the school plant; and third, the 
measurement of the ability of the community to pay for extensions 
to the school plant. It has been pointed out that the majority of 
American cities develop with such a degree of regularity that popu- 
lation growth may be anticipated with a fair degree of reliability 
over a period of years to come. The studies that have been made 
by the telephone companies in Milwaukee and Omaha show what 
may be done in the way of prognostication. The relationship 
between total population and school population vitally affects the 
school building program. In order that school administrators may 
check the accuracy of their own school census this relationship be- 
tween school and total population for cities has been shown. Where 
the addition of one child to the school enrollment means an expendi- 
ture of one hundred and fifty to two hundred dollars for housing 
and equipment, the reason for knowing the exact number of chil- 
dren who are entitled to the care and attention of the school system 
is evident. 

That the problem of securing an accurate school census has not 
been given very serious consideration by many school executives is 
evident from the tables showing the relationship claimed between 
total population and school population. The school executive who 
finds his school system ranking in the first and fourth quartiles of 
these distributions may indeed find it profitable to inquire into the 
accuracy and reliability of his census figures. It would seem that 
every community, in order to anticipate school needs, must have a 
thorough system of registration for all children within the com- 
munity. The individual who is compelled to serve the state should 
be compelled to secure that education which will permit him to 
serve the state according to the best of his abilities. 

In Part I have also been presented methods utilized in develop- 
ing building programs in various localities. When selection is being 
made of cities for purposes of comparison, it has been pointed out 
that such a selection should be made not on the basis of total popu- 
lation as it exists at the time of selection, but on the basis of approxi- 
mately equal increments to population over a period of two or three 
decades. Thus is provided a list of cities whose school building 
problems have presented somewhat similar difficulties. 



Conclusions 127 

The measurement of the school building plant with and without 
the aid of a score card forms the substance of Part II. The results 
of such measurement in four school systems — St. Paul, Omaha, 
Paterson, and Framingham — are given in part with the hope of 
showing school executives the advantages that may be gained from 
such a close scrutiny of the school plant. 

Part III has been devoted to financial considerations involved in 
providing additional school accommodations in any city. Tabula- 
tions of per capita wealth, indebtedness, and expenditures on 
various bases have been presented which will furnish boards of 
education and school executive means for comparison of their own 
situation with that of cities of twenty-five to thirty thousand and 
over. It is hoped that the day will not be far distant when these 
tabulations are extended to all cities of five thousand and above, 
since it is frequently through such financial comparisons that tax- 
payers are influenced to make appropriations for educational 
development above what they had previously considered sufficient. 
Table LXXV may be utilized as a final means of measurement of 
what a community is able to do and has done in the way of appro- 
priating money for educational needs. 

Through the adoption of a program as above outlined, it is 
hoped the following may be among the aims secured. 

1. That boards of education and school superintendents may 
include in their building policy programs of modernization of old 
buildings, as well as a program of abandonment of old buildings 
which are no longer adequate in the light of present educational 
demands. 

2. That boards of education may adopt minimum standards, 
above and beyond the requirements laid down by state departments, 
according to which future school buildings must be built. The 
adoption of such standards, and the exaction from architects of a 
close adherence to them, will eliminate many of the defects which 
can be found in buildings of even recent construction. 

3. That communities which have adopted a building program 
over a period of years will not find it necessary to indulge in strenu- 
ous campaigns for building every time that a separate building 
unit must be built. 

4. That land to be used ultimately for school sites will be pur- 
chased in advance of actual need in newly developing sections of 



128 A School Building Program for Cities 

cities in such amounts that the children of the next generation will 
have adequate play and breathing space. Such land may be 
utilized for various purposes, such as school gardens, parks, and 
athletic fields, until it becomes necessary to build. 

5. That such sites be chosen only after a most thorough study 
of population trend and future industrial and commercial devel- 
opments. 

6. That in the purchase of such lands rigid standards as to 
environment be considered and city ordinances passed insuring per- 
manently a satisfactory environment for any school building built 
subsequently upon this land. 

7. That communities will realize that efficient management of 
school business, as of any other business, includes the formulation 
of future educational policies. The adoption of an educational 
platform becomes necessary when the administration begins to 
think in terms of future building construction. 

8. That in the development of school building programs no 
section of any community may receive consideration above and 
beyond that received by all sections. 

9. That sections not adequately aroused to needs be influenced 
to think in terms of educational developments. 

10. That educational financial needs may be properly emphasized 
when other demands are being made upon the public treasury. 

11. That no community be permitted to lull itself into believing 
that only immediate needs require consideration. The issuance 
of long-time bonds will not be permitted where communities realize 
the burdens that the next generation must assume. 

Finally, it is hoped that superintendents of schools may find 
within the program as outlined suggestions which will assist them 
in presenting their arguments for building extensions before boards 
of education and patrons who are not yet alive to the educational 
needs of their communities. If this volume becomes in this way 
of only slight assistance to superintendents of schools, the writer 
will feel that his work has been of some avail. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Annual Report, City Commissioner of Public Works, St. Paul, Minn., 1915. 
Annual Reports of the United States Commissioner of Education, 1899-1917. 
Annual Report, School-house Department, Public School System, Boston. 

Mass., 1913-1914. 
Daily Bond Buyer, March 26, 1917. 
Cubberley: School Organization and Administration. World Book Co., 

Yonkers, N. Y. 
Curtis: The Reorganized School Program, Bulletin, No. 40, 1913, United 

States Bureau of Education. 
Dressler: American School-houses, Bulletin No. 5, 1910, United States 

Bureau of Education. 
Engelhardt: Triennial Report 0} the School System, Dunkirk, N. Y., 1913- 

iqi6. 
Financial Statistics of Cities. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 

Washington, D. C, 1904-1916. 
Harbach and Hart: A Constructive Survey of the Milwaukee School Build- 
ings and Sites of iqi6. Board of Education, Milwaukee, Wis. 
Haynes: The Milwaukee Recreation Survey. Milwaukee Bureau of Economy 

and Efficiency, No. 15, 1912. 
Hood, et al.: State Laws Relating to Public Education, Bulletin No. 47, 1915, 

United States Bureau of Education. 
Jones: A Review of the Rockford Public Schools. Rockford, 111., 1915-1916. 
Judd, et al. : Grand Rapids Survey. Board of Education, Grand Rapids, Mich. 
"Municipal Bond Sales," The Bond Buyer, New York City, 1917. 
Purposes of Indebtedness of American Cities, 1880-1917, Bureau of Municipal 

Research, New York, 1917. 
Reid: Fifth Report of the Board of Education, Louisville, Ky., IQ15-IQ16. 
Report of the Commission for the Survey of Municipal Financing, Trenton, 

N. J., 1915- 
Report of a Special Investigation Relative to the Indebtedness of the Cities and 

Towns of the Commonwealth. Wright & Potter Printing Co., Boston, 1912. 
Selected List of Works Relating to City Planning and Allied Topics. New York 

Public Library, New York City, 1913. 
Stecher: "A Guide to Determining the Minimum Size of School Play- 
grounds," Mind and Body. Mind & Body Publishing Co., New Ulm, Minn. 
Spaulding: A Million a Year. Board of Education, Minneapolis, Minn.,1916. 
Strayer: Score Card for City School Buildings. Bureau of Publications, 

Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City. 



1 30 A School Building Program for Cities 

Strayer, et al.: Framingham, Mass., Building Survey. Board of Education, 

Framingham, Mass., 1917. 
Strayer, et al.: Some Problems in City School Administration. World Book 

Co., Yonkers, N. Y., 1916. 
Strayer and Engelhardt: Building Survey, St. Paul Public Schools. St. 

Paul, Minn., 1917. 
Strayer and Neale: Great Neck Survey. Great Neck Association, Great 

Neck, Long Island, N. Y. 
Strayer, Engelhardt and Hart : A School Building Program for the City 

of Omaha, Neb., 1917. 
Strayer and Trabue: School Building Survey, Pelham, N. Y., 1917. (Un- 
published.) 
Terman: School Building Survey, Denver, Colo., 1916. 
Van Sickle, et al.: Educational Survey of the Public Schools, Brookline, Mass., 

1917. 
Van Sickle, et al.: Report of the Boston School Department. The Finance 

Commission of the City of Boston, Mass., 1916. 
United States Census Reports. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the 

Census, Washington, D. C, 1890, 1900, 1910. 



VITA 

The author of this dissertation, Nickolaus Louis Engelhardt, 
was born at Naugatuck, Conn., October 8, 1882. He received his 
early education in the public schools of Connecticut, graduating 
from the Naugatuck High School, Naugatuck, Conn., in 1899. His 
undergraduate collegiate work was done at Yale University, New 
Haven, Conn., where he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts 
in 1903. His career as a teacher and administrator includes three 
years' teaching in private schools, three years as a teacher in the 
Auburn (N. Y.) High School, three and one-half years as principal 
of the Dunkirk (N. Y.) High School, and three and one-half years 
as superintendent of schools at Dunkirk, N. Y. The author was a 
student at Columbia University summer school in 1914-1915-1916. 
He was associate in educational administration, Teachers College, 
Columbia University, 1916-1918. 



Fra 



